Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic
Relationships and Religion
To Become Perfect, We Must Rely Upon Others

To Become Perfect, We Must Rely Upon Others

Last updated on: May 5, 2023 at 2:45 am by Henry Karlson

0 Comments

To Become Perfect, We Must Rely Upon Others 2023-05-05T02:45:19-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Zhugher: Mother And Child Holding Hands / pixabay

We need to recognize our frailty. While it is possible to become perfect through grace, and so to transcend our sins, even when we have done so, we will have to acknowledge what we have done in the past, that is, the influence sin has had on our lives, and the way we have hurt others and ourselves through our sins. If we don’t do that, it will only mean we are not yet perfect, because we will not be honest with ourselves, with pride being the likely cause. Thus, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 Jn. 1:8-10 RSV).

Grace perfects nature, and so it can and does lead us to perfection. Nonetheless, grace requires our cooperation for it to bring us to such perfection. And though we will often cooperate with it to a limited extent, that is, when we look for forgiveness for what we have done, and so receive grace, we should realize having obtained forgiveness is not in itself the same thing as having becoming perfect. Such perfection is found only at the completion of our salvation, when we transcend sin, so that it can be said we go and truly sin no more. Thus, until we are truly perfect, we will need to work out our salvation, constantly embracing grace so that it can help us change our ways. We will need to build up good habits, those which lead to virtuous conduct, even as we will have to fight against our bad habits or vices which lead us astray. So long as we find ourselves falling into sin, we need to accept our spiritual condition, that is, that we are spiritually sick and that our cooperation with grace is similar to following the prescription a doctor gives us to become physically healed. We should not pretend to be something which we are not. When we find ourselves falling into temptation again and again, and finding such temptation getting the best of us, we should not represent ourselves as being holy. We certainly should not pretend to be holy in front of others, and then sin in private, for such deception itself will only encourage us not only to sin, but to sin gravely. It is better to be open with others, to even sin in front of them, than to pretend to be perfect and sin only in secret, as St. Jerome wrote: “And when we compare two evils, it is a lesser evil to sin openly than to pretend and fake holiness.”[1]

If we desire to appear to be holy when we are not, we find that in the end, we end up believing the lie ourselves. We ignore our grave faults, among which is pride, and engage the world, thinking we deserve every accolade, every praise we get. We find ourselves trapped in a cycle of self-deification, and in the end, the sin which we ignore, the sin which proves our pretense is a lie, will be exposed. Then we will find our lives, and all we built up for ourselves, will collapse like the Tower of Babel. Indeed, we will likely find ourselves falling deep into our sin, similar to the way Satan is presented to have done. We will not turn away from our sin, but rather, double down on it; then we will become so self-absorbed, we will cut ourselves off from the grace we need to heal and truly become holy.

It is because we have been given freedom that we have this chance to become so self-absorbed, and so, though freedom is a good, it is a good which can be abused. When we sin, that is exactly what we do. The more we sin, the more we find ourselves bound by our choice, controlled and dominated by it. For sin is destructive. It destroys what it touches, and as it comes out of our will, it destroys and dominates it, so that we find our personal agency being taken away from us and we become more and more like a mere object without any personal freedom. At the root of sin is the choice to either will for ourselves, and in doing so, become trapped by ourselves and imperfections, and the evil which is produced by such selfishness, or to will and act for others and God. As Bulgakov explained, therefore, the good given to us, our freedom, comes at a price, that is, with a temptation to abuse it by willing exclusively for ourselves and our own desires. To become holy, we must overcome that desire: “Thus, creatureliness, the union of freedom and givenness, contains the possibility of revolt and self-willfulness, which tempts us under the masks of pretend genius and self-deification. Creatureliness contains luciferism as a temptation that is to be overcome.”[2]

We need to overcome ourselves, that is, we need to stop looking out for our own individual interests, if we are to be perfect. Only by opening ourselves up so that we do not think only about ourselves and our own selfish interest will this be possible. Indeed, we must learn to rely upon others and their help, even as we grace, which comes from God and not ourselves, if we are to overcome spiritual delusion and the hinderances it brings to our salvation. The more spiritual we are, the more, not less, we need others, for the greater we have become, the more potential we have for a great fall. Great sinners can turn into great saints, but would-be saints can also turn into great sinners. “When a sick person, out of contempt for others, tries to cure himself, he falls into destruction. He should seek an experienced physician who can provide a remedy for his illness.” [3] The more we think we can heal ourselves, the more deluded we become, and so the more we will do those things which will end up leaving us spiritually desolate. This is not to say everything we choose to do will harm us, indeed, the fact is, much of what we do, on some level, will do us some good, but that will end up reinforcing the false view that we can continue ignoring the wisdom, advice, and help of others, setting us up for the great fall which is to come.

Arrogant boastfulness, selfishness, pride, all come from the same root, from the falsely conceived self, the ego, which serves as the foundation of our activity. We will not be able to vanquish that false self and the ego which emerges from it without help. That help will come from someone else who, having undergone a similar struggle, found the right way to cooperate with grace and receive the help they needed:

Remember, too, that an ordinary road is infested with thieves and robbers, so that one cannot travel along it without an escort. As for the mystic Way, the world, one’s ego, devils, men, and jinn all infest this Way, thus making it impossible to travel along it without an experienced, holy man as one’s escort. [4]

To be sure, such a person can only serve as an escort. We have to follow after them, and do what they recommend. That is, a part of the struggle will always be left to ourselves. We have to work out our own salvation. We have to cooperate with grace to become perfected by it. We can’t do it alone. Others will show us the kinds of pitfalls which lie before us and the way to overcome them. If we don’t heed them, we will likely fall into them. But if we do fall into them, we will have the opportunity to change our ways, to accept help from others, and so reach out and accept the hand which is given us to get back up and back on our way, making sure we find ourselves on the path to salvation. We can’t do that by ourselves. We are not meant to do so. We are not meant to do it alone. The more we try to do all things by ourselves, thinking we don’t need others, we reinforce the false self and its ego, making sure we never find our way out of the minefield which lie before us. This is why those who have no experiencing transcending the false self, must never just move away from the world thinking they can do it all by themselves. They might try all kinds of things to deal with it, taking all kinds of extreme measures, like fasting, to die to the self, only to find their actions reinforce that false self:

Where such lack of moderation prevails, the ethereal virtues (that is, humility and the beautiful flowers of love) perish, because immoderate abstinence lacks the viridity of the virtues. For immoderate abstinence breeds in an arrogant boastfulness, which has no foundation; and, besides, it produces many terrors, which appear to be holy, but are not.[5]

Listening to others will help make sure we do not try some extreme method to dealing with the ego which only ends up reinforcing it. Embracing some particular virtues, without embracing a proper balance and knowing the way forward, usually leads to pride, undermining our perfection. And so, in the end, we truly must recognize our frailty, and our need to get help from others. This will keep us humble, and such humility will lead to our salvation That is why it is the only way true forward.

[1] St. Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah in St Jerome: Commentary on Isaiah; Origen Homilies 1-9 on Isaiah. Trans. Thomas P. Scheck (New York: Paulist Press, 2015), 334.

[2] Sergius Bulgakov, Bride of the Lamb. Trans. Boris Jakim (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002), 155.

[3] Sharafuddin Maneri, The Hundred Letters. Trans. Paul Jackson, SJ (New York: Paulist Press, 1980), 36 [Letter 7].

[4] Sharafuddin Maneri, The Hundred Letters, 26. [Letter 5].

[5] St. Hildegard of Bingen, “Letter 234” in The Letters of Hildegard of Bingen. Volume III. Trans. Joseph L Baird and Radd K Ehrman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 33.

Stay in touch! Like A Little Bit of Nothing on Facebook.
If you liked what you read, please consider sharing it with your friends and family!

N.B.: While I read comments to moderate them, I rarely respond to them. If I don’t respond to your comment directly, don’t assume I am unthankful for it. I appreciate it. But I want readers to feel free to ask questions, and hopefully, dialogue with each other. I have shared what I wanted to say, though some responses will get a brief reply by me, or, if I find it interesting and something I can engage fully, as the foundation for another post. I have had many posts inspired or improved upon thanks to my readers.

General Christian

Relationships and Religion

Previous Post

May 4, 2023

What Is Needed For A True “Eucharistic Revival”?

Next Post

May 7, 2023 The Samaritan Woman, Scripture, History, And Myth

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"First things first is the easiest way forward. "If someone is bleeding profusely, we must ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Why We Must Embrace Empathy, Sympathy ..."

"Gosh, did that hit the spot. I have been having great anxiety lately. And I ..."

Mark Wilson

Rejecting Doom: Christian Hope And Human ..."

"Justice and peace are two sides of the same coin. Where there is justice, there ..."

Dr.Cajetan Coelho

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

"Thank you for your very, very powerful and very, very insightful analysis of the relationship ..."

alwayspuzzled

Justice First, Charity Beyond It: Serving ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abraham abuse Aesthetics AI Aliens Ambrose Ancestors and Everything Andrew Angels Animals Anne Anthony Antisemitism apologetics Apophatic Apostle John Aquinas Artificial Intelligence Asanga Ascension Asceticism Assumption Atheism Attachment Augustine Authority Avarice Balthasar Baptism Beauty Biden birthright citizenship Bishops Black History Books Buddhism Bulgakov Byzantine Calendar C.S. Lewis Calcidius Catholic Catholicism Catholicism Celibacy Charity Chastity children Chrismation Christ Christmas Christology Church Climate Change Common Good Communion Confession Confirmation Conscience Constantine conventions conversion councils Covid Creation Cross Dead Death Death Penalty Debate Deception Demagogues Demons Desert Monks Desert Mothers Desire destruction development Dialogue Dignity Dionsyius Dionysius Discipline Diversity Division Doctor Who doctrine dogma Dormition Dualism Easter Easter Series Ecumenical Councils Ecumenism Education Election Empathy Environment Error Eschatology eschaton Eternity Ethics Eucharist Evangelism Eve Evil evolution Faeries Faith Fear femininity Ficino Florence Florensky Folktale Fools Forgiveness Freedom Future gender Gentile Gentiles Glory Gnostic God gods Good Samaritan Goodness Gospel Government Grace Great Fast Guns Halloween Hate healing Health Heaven Hell Hellenism Heresy Hierarchy Hildegard Hinduism History Holiness Holy Spirit Holy Week Hope Horror Human rights humanity Humility hypocrisy ICE icon icons Identification Identity Idol II Nicea Immigration incarnation Individualism Informal Reflections Inklings Intention Inter-Religious Interfaith Internet Interpretation Intrinsic evil Irenaeus Islam Israel Jacob Jerome Jesus Jews John Chrysostom John of Damascus John the Baptist Joseph Judaism justice Justification kenosis Kindnesss Kingdom of God Kingdom of Heaven Law Law of Moses Lazarus Leaf by Niggle Lent Lenten Reflection Liberation Theology Lies Life Listen Literature Liturgy locutions Logic Logos Love Marriage Martyrs Mary Mass Maximos The Confessor Meanness Meditation Mercy Middle Path Migrants Mind Miracles Miriam Morals Moses Movies Music Muslims Myths Names Nationalism Native Americans New Year Nicea Nicholas Nothing Novatian Obedience Occam's Razor Ordination Origen Original Sin Orthodox orthopraxis Pagans Palamas Palm Sunday Paradise Paschaltide Paul Peace Pentecost person Peter piety PKD Plato pluralism Plurality Poem Poetry Poiltics Politics Poor Pope Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV Post Office Prayer Pride Pro-life Prodigal Son propaganda Prophecy Prophets Providence Putin Racism Reading Reason Reflection Refugees Relationships Religion Religion Series Religious Liberty Repent Republicans Rest Resurrection Rich Rites Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation Salvian Santa Science Scripture Self-Giving Sexuality Sibyl Sick Silence Sin Singlehood Social Justice Society Sodom Solovyov Speculations Spiritual Reflection St. Cyril of Alexandria St. Justin Martyr Suffering Sunday of the Paralytic Man Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Superhero Supreme Court Teaching Technology Thanksgiving The Father the Universe Theological Reflection Theology Theosis Theotokos Thomas Timaeus Time Tolerenace Tolkien Tradition Transfiguration Trinity Trump Truth Uncategorized Unity Universities USCCB Vainglory Value Vatican II Vegetarian Vices Violence Virtue Vocations War Water Welcome Wisdom Womanhood Women Work World View Worship Writing Zacchaeus

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz