Our Conduct
Jesus said to his disciples,
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world
and forfeit his life?
Or what can one give in exchange for his life?
For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory,
and then he will repay each according to his conduct.” (Mt 6:24-27)
Conduct.
In grade school, most especially, conduct is crucial. Students do everything that they can to get good conduct grades on their report cards. They do so because they realize the implications of such a grade.
You see, a student can be an A+ student academically but, if he or she has a low grade in conduct, that grade will keep the student off of the honor roll.
You might think that is a bit harsh; however, it is merely a way of reminding the students that many things are important in life, including good conduct.
As harsh as that may sound, Jesus indicated the same thing in today’s gospel passage when He reminded His followers that they would be judged according to their conduct.
We could be A+ types of people in terms of life knowledge but if our conduct, our example, is not up to par, we are going to be in a heap of trouble.
Bishop Grutka, the first bishop of the Diocese of Gary, would agree with that since he was noted for saying “It’s not what you know, it’s what you show.”
Life can be tough. Because of that, some people try to take shortcuts. They do not do the right thing. Instead, they do the quick thing or the selfish thing in order to get ahead. We might be able to get ahead in life. However, the life we should be most concerned about is eternal life.
There are no shortcuts to attaining eternal life.
FAITH ACTION: Ask yourself how far you are willing to go in order to follow the Lord. Ask God to give you the grace and strength that you need to take up your cross.