Beware of self-seeking

WE have to be wary of our common tendency to seek ourselves

rather than to seek God, which is proper to us. This tendency is

usually actualized everyday as we go through the different events and

concerns of the day.

          It’s good, of course, that we work to meet a deadline, for

example, or to make money, to attain a desirable goal, etc. But let’s

to see to it that all this is done for God’s glory and not just for

our own satisfaction. Otherwise, no matter how successful we are in

these endeavors, if they are not for God’s glory, they are worth

nothing in the end.

          Relevant passages in the gospel support this assertion.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these

things will be given to you as well.” Christ himself said. (Mt 6,33)

          In another instance, Christ also said, “What shall it profit

a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” These

words clearly tell us that we have to take care first of our spiritual

life that is concerned about keeping a loving relationship with God

before we worry about human motives, no matter how legitimate they

are.

          Thus, St. Paul said it very directly, “Whether you eat or

drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Cor

10,31) It should be clear in our mind that if our motive for doing

things is short of giving glory to God, those things which may turn

out to be deeds and accomplishments in human terms would fail to

fulfill the ultimate purpose for which they done.

          Let us remember that our life here on earth, and everything

in it, especially our deeds, is meant to be a proof of our love for

God, of our correspondence to his continuing interventions in our

life, since everything is supposed to be an encounter of God, an

encounter whose proper character is that of us giving glory to him.

          By so doing, we actually affirm our true dignity as persons

and children of God, created in his image and likeness, meant to share

in God’s own life and nature. By so doing we do not demean ourselves

nor annul our freedom.

          Quite the contrary! We need to realize that we are nothing

without God. Our problem is that we think we can be something without

him. Let’s always remember what Christ said once: “I am the vine, you

are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much

fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15,5)

          We just have to make sure that whatever we do, it should

always be for the glory of God. Yes, as usually happens, it can be

implied that we are actually glorifying God in whatever we are doing

even if our immediate motive is something that is human and

legitimate.

          But we need to pause and rectify ourselves from time to

time, because for us to slip into something purely human without doing

things for love of God is very easy and can pass with us hardly

noticing it. That is why it is imperative that we pause and make some

kind of self-examination to see if we have the right motive in our

actuations.

          A tremendous amount of humility is needed here, since we

have a strong tendency to be proud, vain, self-centered and to feel

self-sufficient. We have a strong tendency to lose our sense of

complete dependence on God.

          We can think that for us to be truly free, we have to

declare independence from God. Or we can wrongly think that by

maintaining our dependence or union with God, we are compromising our

sense of responsibility over our whole life.

          So, let’s be wary of the subtle ways we can get trapped in

the dynamics of self-seeking.