before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?
I want to learn only this from you:
did you receive the Spirit from works of the law,
or from faith in what you heard?
Are you so stupid?
After beginning with the Spirit,
are you now ending with the flesh?
Did you experience so many things in vain?–
if indeed it was in vain.
Does, then, the one who supplies the Spirit to you
and works mighty deeds among you
do so from works of the law
or from faith in what you heard?
REFLECTION
"After beginning with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?"
Oh my! Saint Paul is really not mincing word in here... And it is hard to fight against the most implacable enemies of the soul: the world, the flesh, and the devil.
Over and over I keep thinking I can do all things: including procuring my own salvation. But I fool myself. Over and over I need to remind myself, and to beg God to save me from myself.
Perseverance is that prayer that I have to constantly beg God for. To do good works and to believe in God until the end of my life. So I can finally say: "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith." (2 Tim 4:7)
I think that the only way I might be able to achieve this is by constant prayer, especially to keep present the Divine Audience, this is, God, His Angels and His Saints. Confession, even for those habitual sins. Holy Communion, so hopefully, every time there is a little less of me and more of Him. And good actions. Or at least avoid doing bad actions.
So, what do you do to get "back on track" to follow Jesus instead of the flesh?
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