Inclined to be Good

With elections coming up we often hear the terms, "corrupt governments," "corrupt politicians" or "corrupt business men." These are all titles and descriptions that are thrown about on television and social media, especially in the current political race. What does corrupt really mean though? Does it mean that these people are inherently bad. Do we think that these people have always been bad and we just never realized it? "Corruption" is thrown in our face so often that people tend to think that we as humans are inherently bad. Personally, I have always been a supporter of the belief that we as humans are inherently good. I remember being in High School and my teacher once asked us to write an essay on this exact topic. I was astonished to find that many of my classmates felt that humans are naturally inclined to do do bad things. Mind you this was after reading books like Lord of the Flies and similar novels. So I can see why they might have argued for the later. However, I can't help but believe that we are naturally inclined to be good people.



I understand that there are many examples of bad things in this world. We see corruption through out all of history but I don't believe this is because we are inherently bad. I think it is a process. A process many people don't realize until it is too late to turn back. One false document leads to another until there is a whole stack of false documents from years gone by. They find themselves so far down a hole that the only thing they know how to do is to keep digging. Eventually there is no way for them to crawl out and they are stuck in that hole. 

I believe this is the same type of corruption found in our relationship with God. It is a slow progression that leads us further and further away from God. We make decisions or do things that turn our eyes from what is supremely good. We spend more time doing things that keep us from God. Things like spending multiple hours watching television rather than spending time in prayer. Now watching TV in and of itself is not a bad thing, but it can slowly turn us away from God. Eventually we find ourselves obsessed with a show and our relationship with God is not as good as it once was. I think it is this kind of slow turning away from God that allows corruption in. The more we turn away from what is good the more distance we create between ourselves and all that is good. I think it is this distance that leads us down the darker paths. 

Where am I going with this? Well I think St. Augustine says it best:
"And it became clear to me that things which are subject to corruption are good. They would not be subject to corruption if they were either supremely good or not good at all; for, if they were supremely good they would be incorruptible, and if there was nothing good in them, there would be nothing which could be corrupted." -Confessions of St. Augustine 

I love the way Augustine puts it! It is because we are able to be corrupted that we are good. Not only that, but we have been given a rope to pull us out of the hole. We have been sent a savior! Jesus Christ comes down into those holes that we have dug ourselves into. He sits there with us waiting for us to turn to him and ask for His help. He is ready to take us by the hand and lift us fully out of that hole of corruption. He loves us so much that he gets down into the muddy dirty hole that so many of us place ourselves into and He cleans us off. He clothes us in a new robe, one that is shining and vibrant. A robe of purity and love. No matter how many times we fall back into that hole he will continue to pull us out again and again.

I believe the real struggle is to continuously turn to Him and ask Him to help us get out of the hole. If we get to a point where we sit in our holes of corruption and do not seek a way out then we have truly fallen. If you feel like the walls are too steep and slippery, that surely you will be trapped in the hole that you currently find yourself in, then turn to Jesus. He is there waiting. Loving.

We have the capacity for good in our hearts if only we turn to God. Do not allow the darkness to seep in and drag you down. Surely, there is a way for each and everyone of us to be "very good" after all, it is in our design. We are children of God, created in His image and likeness. Therefore, seek to be united with Him. Seek to live your life in His ways and not in the worlds. Do not let the world tell you that you are inherently bad. That is a lie to keep you from the truth. Believe in the light.

"I praise you because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know." Ps. 139:14

Be the Light!