MY DAILY BREAD
The Way of Imitation
THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT
CHAPTER 56
Life's Daily WarfareThe Way of Imitation
THE SPIRITUAL COMBAT
CHAPTER 56
CHRIST:
MY CHILD, your daily life is truly a warfare. There is a continual struggle within you and around you. The final purpose of this struggle is to win men for Heaven or for hell. The parties engaged in this battle are My Blessed in Heaven, My Church on earth, and I, on the one side, with the world, the flesh, and the devil on the other.
2. The battleground in this warfare is the soul of each and every person on earth. Too often a man joins his own enemies and helps them defeat My efforts to save him. This is done either through foolish pride, or through blind selfishness, or simply through a blameworthy ignorance.
3. The world fights Me by its false standards of self-respect, ambition, and success. These are merely different names for self-seeking without regard for others, not even Me. True self-respect, and right ambition are those which direct your eyes to your highest perfection and eternal happiness, above all that is temporary and incomplete.
4. The flesh fights Me with its animal desires, its likes and dislikes, which make it harder for you to think clearly and to strive for what is right. Your blind self-seeking and your stubborn pride offer you many false reasons for doing what is really bad for you. With these influences continually at work, you are open to continual self-deception.
5. The devil makes clever use of the enemies mentioned above. He tempts you through worldly people and through your own weaknesses. Your only defense against these enemies is to become a spiritual man. With My help you must have a supernatural outlook on all things. I shall grant you interior vision which will easily detect the clever camouflage of Satan and quickly recognize sin under its numberless disguises. I shall fill your heart with a firm and constant love for Me, so that you may go on daily, fighting for My glory without self-consideration.
THINK:
The daily battle for eternal life goes on at every moment in every human life. God wants me to be an intelligent and active soldier of Jesus, His divine Son. In His teachings and sacraments Jesus offers me the knowledge and strength to be a loyal follower of His. If I cooperate with His holy plan, His eternal, heavenly outlook will replace my narrow, earthbound outlook on life. Through my interior and exterior imitation of Him I shall be a spiritual man. Then shall I help spread Christ's victory not only within my own soul, but also within the souls of the people around me. In fact, my prayers and sacrifices will bring many graces to people all over the world.
PRAY:
O Jesus, King of my soul, lead me along life's daily battlefield. Teach me to view all of my daily experiences as one great act of love and loyalty to You. I want to fulfill my daily obligations with a sense of serving You. When temptations face me, I shall fight them for love of You. Help me keep this spiritual outlook on all my daily activities. People must not dim my vision of You. Even in helping others, let it be an act of personal loyalty to You. By my example I hope to inspire others with a keener desire to follow You. By humble and timely advice I shall try to help others see Your holy Will. By my prayers I shall try to obtain for others the graces which they need to fight sin and to practice virtue. Amen.
