Baby Steps
One
“You Have Heard… but I say to You.”
In the Gospels, and especially in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts His own teaching with a lot of the principles of the Old Testament. For instance, Jesus said, “You have heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth’; but I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you.” Or, “You have heard it said, ‘Thou shall not kill’; but I say to you, anyone who calls his brother ‘Fool’ is liable to the fires of Gehenna.” Or when people point out to Him that Moses allowed men to divorce their wives, as long as they could get a certificate of divorce, Jesus says, “I say to you, who ever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.”
Now all these rules that Jesus is contrasting with His own teaching came from God, through Moses, during the time of the Exodus. So is Jesus criticizing the rules that came from God himself? That doesn’t sound right. But if not, then what is He doing? And how does it apply to us?
Two
Concrete Strategies for Restraining Sin
Jesus said that Moses allowed divorce because of the “hardness” of the people’s hearts.In other words, many of the laws of the Old Testament weren’t about attaining perfection, they were about deterring sin.
For instance, requiring a man to get a certificate of divorce prevents him from just getting a divorce on a whim. It will hopefully deter divorce, hopefully, while going through the hassle of getting a certificate, the man would repent of the evil he was about to do. And divorce is evil: which is why God told the prophet Malachi, “I hate divorce.” (2:16) God hates divorce, as He hates all sin. But because the Israelites were hard-hearted, He couldn’t outlaw it outright; He had to gradually try to restrict it.
The same with an, “eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth.” God hates revenge but that rule at least limited people to not doing more evil than had been done to them. The same with the law, “Thou shalt not kill.” That’s a pretty low bar, God doesn’t want us even to be angry with our brother. But in the Old Testament, they needed to take baby-steps. Aquinas says the Old Law functioned as a tutor to lead people towards the New Law of love and grace (I-II, q. 107, a. 1, ad 2).
The point is that God is aware of two things: One is the ultimate perfection He’s calling us to, and the other is the next step we need to take on the path towards that perfection. That next step won’t be perfection, but it will at least be a start. And that’s important for us to think about.
Three
The Ideal
Jesus said, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law; I have come not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it.” In other words, all those laws given by Moses in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, all those laws were good, but imperfect. They were designed to meet people where they were at, and get them to be a little less lustful, a little less vindictive, a little less self-indulgent. But that’s not the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is to be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect, as Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount. The goal is to be transformed in Love, to be totally loving, totally self-possessed, totally forgiving, totally devoted to God.
If that’s the ultimate goal, then there’s a very simple question: what’s the next step you need to take? What simple, concrete step can you implement, one that won’t make you perfect, but could get you a little closer?
Four
What Should be Your Next Right Step?
As the Israelites journeyed through the desert towards the promised land, God gave Moses a lot of concrete practices for them. These didn’t cure their hard hearts, but they were an improvement. And it certainly wouldn’t have worked if Moses had said, “Alright, I need you all to be perfectly virtuous, starting now.”
God is working to transform us, to make us perfect. But the road to perfection is a process of transformation that happens by daily resolutions. So it won’t work if you say to yourself, “That’s it. Starting tomorrow, I will be charitable and loving to my wife for the rest of my life.” Not very likely. But maybe you can say, “Okay, just for today, if my wife says something I don’t agree with, I will remain silent. I won’t react and fight. Just for today.” It won’t work to say, “Starting tomorrow, no more lust. I am just completely done with impure thoughts.” But maybe you can say, “Today I will not scroll through my browser when I am bored. Instead, I will keep a book with me and pick it up when I am bored.”
These practices won’t make you perfect, any more than the Mosaic prescriptions made the Israelites perfect. But they’re a step in the right direction. And transformation is a process of one simple step at a time.
Five
Don’t Stop Pursuing Perfection
Remember, though, even as we make our little efforts at penance and growth in virtue, remember that perfection is possible. And perfection means to become love. “A new commandment I give you, to love one another as I have loved you” is what our Lord said.
The Lord has commanded it. He has told us to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect. And it won’t happen overnight. But with God’s grace and our cooperation, it can happen, and it will happen. So don’t ever take your sights off the goal. And don’t ever stop taking the next step. That’s what this time in the desert is for. That’s what Lent is for. That’s what life is for. As a resolution, what is the simple, concrete thing you will practice just for today to become a more loving person? Ask Our Lady to inspire you and then do it.
Suggested Resolutions:
Choose one resolution for today to help you grow closer to God, or create your own. Here are some ideas to inspire you.
Set smaller goals each day based on your examination of conscience, focusing on what you know you’re capable of rather than making too big of a leap and falling short.
Give up scrolling on the internet for a day, only using the internet when you have a specific task to accomplish.
Practice love by practicing patience, make the commitment to spend time intentionally listening instead of arguing this week.