It's one little line spoken by Jesus within the event known as The Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26: 41):
"The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
I think it encapsulates the reality of what it means to be human, and Jesus' understanding of our humanity. After all he was both human and divine.
How often do we commit ourselves in prayer to take up discipleship behavior? How often do we promise ourselves that we are not going to say or do things we know are wrong, only to find ourselves, as St. Paul says, doing the very thing we know we shouldn't?
All the time, right?
Jesus knows this. That's why during his great distress in the garden, when his friends fell asleep rather than "keeping watch" with him, he acknowledged this. They really wanted to do what they were called to do, but in their humanity, they just couldn't pull it off--this time.
Other times, they got it right, and that's true for you and I as well. Sometimes we disappoint our Lord--and ourselves--and sometimes we get it right.
When we mess up, we need to lean into God's mercy and allow ourselves to really hear what Jesus said to his disciples, after they fell asleep for the THIRD time:
"Get up, let us go. . ."
I've always thought he sounded exasperated with them, and maybe he was, but the reality is, he didn't let them stay stuck when they let him down. The direction he gave them was to just "get up" and keep moving.
And so it is for us today. Whatever is weighing you down, just get up and move on, putting the past behind you. If Jesus didn't hold the disciples' faults over them, neither will he ours, as long as we try to rectify our error.
What a blessing it is that we have a Father in heaven who not only understands our faults and weaknesses, but continues to call us out of them.
Hold on to that, rather than beating yourself up, on the hard days. Jesus loves you.
Janet Cassidy
Email me at: jmctm2@gmail.com
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