The Stories We Tell Ourselves

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warns us against the sin of lying when he states: All you need say is "Yes" if you mean yes, "No" if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

Jesus is teaching us to have a radical commitment to the truth.

Truth is the conformity of our thinking and behavior to reality.

The biggest problem is that we lie to ourselves.

We tell ourselves lies, false narratives that fit our vices to justify them.

St. Thomas Aquinas says we can’t do anything evil without first creating a rationalization for it, some false story to justify it.

We create lies to justify our pride, vanity, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony, lust, complaining, gossiping etc.

We are tempted to lie to ourselves because we are afraid to embrace reality, which is the truth.

So, what are the lies we tell ourselves? Do you tell yourself that you’re not good enough? That whatever your vices are, they can’t be changed, so why bother? Do you tell yourself that others are to blame for your vices?

We cannot aspire to virtue if we don’t first embrace reality, entrust it to Jesus and with Him, strive to be more.

Instead of wishing things were some other way, entrust your reality to Jesus, thank Him for it and then make a radical commitment to know and live in the truth, to know and live in reality.