Why Is It So Hard to Be a Good Person?
And how God can help us in our struggle to be good
Have you ever told yourself you’re going to be more patient only to lose your temper in the end?
I did. And the moment I resolve to exercise more patience, a temptation quickly comes my way, letting me know how I often fail to measure up to my own standard of goodness.
Why is it so hard to be good? And why do we want to be good in the first place?
I would like to believe that deep within the heart of every person, no matter how evil one seems to be, there is a desire to be good.
It is a part of our God-given dignity. It is what makes us different from other living things.
However, not everyone is able to fulfill this desire. Many people may not even be aware of it and have buried it so deep in their consciousness they can no longer recognize it.
In our secular age, it is a common mistake to think that this desire for goodness can be exchanged for our endless desire for pleasure. We busy ourselves with our little gadgets. We aim to travel even to the outermost parts of the universe. But we forget to travel in that sacred corner of our hearts where we can find that hole that needs to be filled.
How do you become a good person?
To those who are religious, it is as simple as finding God, loving Him and obeying His commands. And it should be those indeed. But the question at the end of the day is “How?”
How do we love God? How do we obey His commandments when we can’t suffer the slightest discomfort for the sake of our neighbor?
It is not easy to be good. Had it been easy, why must God Himself come down from heaven to save us?
We cannot rise up by our own power
So God must descend to where we are. In the darkness of our world. And in the darkest miseries of our hearts.
These wounds then are the very signs that can point us to our need. And by these wounds, God makes a way to enter our hearts.
God knocks and calls, and in order to have goodness in our lives, we have to let goodness in. We have to let God find us.
We start this journey of goodness by allowing God to touch these wounds so that He can heal them. We must allow the physician to do what He deems necessary so He can restore our health. After that, we must follow His advice.
God’s advice is practical and reasonable.
He will not tell us to walk right away if our muscles won’t allow us to. But He will tell us to undergo therapy to slowly regain our strength. He will also recommend medicine and the proper diet to help us heal faster. All of these things are within our power to accomplish.
In the same way, God knows that by our own power, we cannot overcome our spiritual struggles. We need help in many ways.
We must avail ourselves of the grace He gives through the sacraments. To strengthen our souls, for instance, we must find nourishment in the Holy Eucharist.
It is one thing to recognize our need to be good and it is another thing to struggle each day trying to be good.
Faced with many evils and temptations, how do we keep resisting sin?
Jesus told us beforehand that those who follow Him would need to take up their crosses and deny themselves. He warned us that the road to heaven is narrow and hard.
To become a good person, we must apply all of these things and live them each day.
The medicine that our Physician has recommended must be taken even if it is bitter.
The healthy diet recommended to us must be eaten even though the taste may not always be to our liking. The therapy must be done despite the pain we must go through.
We must be prepared to be mocked for our faith, to be considered outcasts and to be misunderstood even by those who are close to us.
Goodness is a constant struggle to let light overcome darkness, to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus and to renounce the temporary pleasures that can corrupt our souls little by little.
We must constantly guard our hearts and protect it from the bitterness of resentment and the poison of envy. We must learn to let go of offenses against us, forgive those who may not seem deserving of our mercy, and surrender our need for fairness in the hands of the just and merciful God.
We take our crosses each day, forgetting our desire for glory and honor in the eyes of the world, seeking only the pleasure of Him who loves us most.
There will be a time when we may even wonder whether we’re doing the right thing. Why undergo all these sufferings? Isn’t it better to give in to the pleasures of the world?
But God has made you realize what’s worth keeping and why the pleasures of the world would only lead to your ruin.
You may have sorrow now, but you shall rejoice.
You may suffer so much, but you will forget all of your sufferings when you possess your eternal inheritance.
Goodness is the only thing that leads to true happiness. You may have to suffer the cross, but with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Friend, you will rise again!
