Oct 26 Mon
Do I believe in God, but live as if God didn’t exist?
A Ten Signs Test.
It’s not enough to say that I believe in God. The real question is whether my faith is transforming my decisions, relationships, and the way I live.
If I believe in God, I must trust Him. If I receive the sacraments, I must understand them and know their effects. If I talk about Christ, I must learn from Him how to love, forgive, serve, and build peace.
Reflect,
1. I make important decisions without ever asking God.
I pray, go to Mass, and consider myself a believer, but when I have to make decisions about work, marriage, children, money, or my relationships, I act as if everything depended solely on me.
A simple question can change your perspective:
“Lord, what do You want me to do?”
2. I seek God only when I have problems.
God is not simply your help in a crisis. He wants to be your Father, your companion, and the center of your existence.
3. I always put off my prayer until later.
You devote your time to what you consider important.
4. I want God to approve what I’ve already decided.
You are not seeking His will; you are seeking His approval.
A mature faith dares to ask before deciding.
Seeking God’s will means accepting that His answer might not match what you wanted.
5. My moral judgment depends more on prevailing trends than on the Gospel.
“Everyone else is doing it.” When culture becomes your only compass, you may end up living a form of practical atheism.
6. I know a lot about many things, but almost nothing about my faith.
Do you devote five minutes daily to read the Gospel or take the time to study your faith?
7. I live as if everything depended on me.
I want to control everything around me, my future, and even what others think of me, and thus fall into anxiety.
Faith leads us to do what we can and to leave the rest to God.
We are not God. And accepting that limitation can be deeply liberating.
8. I think more and more only about myself.
My rights, my comfort, my time, my needs.
But the question, “Who needs my help?” hardly ever comes up. Jesus teaches that whoever wants to be great must become a servant to others. Authentic faith does not shut us in on ourselves. It opens us up to others.
9. I show little gratitude and complain a lot.
When God disappears from your horizon, you may begin to feel entitled to everything. Gratitude brings us back to a fundamental truth: everything is a gift –my life, my family, my talents…
10. My faith determines the way I treat others.
Perhaps this is the sign that should worry you. You can pray a lot and still remain cruel, gossipy, arrogant, resentful, and unable to ask for forgiveness.
The Christian faith cannot be limited to religious practices alone. It is called to become a way of life.
In which of these ten signs do I recognize myself?
Some excerpts from Lupita Venegas