For the Love of Good

"No man knows how bad he is till he had tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is.

"After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives into temptation after five minutes simple does not know what it would have been like an hour later.

"That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because he was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means- the only complete realist."

(C.S. Lewis, *Mere Christianity,* p. 126)

Being good is worth it! Sometimes in life, we say or do things we don't mean. But recognizing when we've made a mistake; quickly acknowledge it, take accountability for it, and then, move on. Therein lies happiness. At least, that is what I believe. Perhaps, this is the key to a clear conscious and a mind filled with peace.

I'm trying my very best to be good at something I don't know how to do... Love unconditionally and completely. I'm way off the mark sometimes, but it is a final destination. I'm still in the process of the journey, it'll be a while til I get there. So these mistakes, this learning process- is all part of the journey. I still have a long learning curve ahead, but I'm willing to work at it. I hope in the end, I'll get where I need to be.

As far as the process goes- what I know is this: God loves us and He wants us to be happy. That's it. Everything else will work itself out, if we do all that we humanly can. Being obedient to what I know is truth or as a friend put it- striving to be more "conspicuously good", is primarily what I need to work on right now. The more I test this out, the more I can see the weakness in me. But out of recognizing weakness-comes strength. So, my beloved friend, thank you for pointing this out to me.