For God's Sake

James 4:1-10; Mark 9:30-37

Reading the letter of James sometimes makes your stomach hurt, not because it is acidic, but because of his brutal honesty: "where do wars and conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members?... Adulterers! Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God."

But there is hope for the weary, "Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you."

St. Bernard describes the journey back to God as such:

There are degrees of love that are awaken in the soul as we seek to follow God.  The first degree of love is to Love ourself for our own sake.  Here we are the center of our life and world. 

The second degree is to Love God for the our sake.  Here we remain the center of our world but we are slowly awaken to God in our life because of the good He does for us.  But we at least recognize God and call upon Him. 

The third degree of love is to Love God for God's sake.  Here we slowly move from the adolescent level of faith into a more mature understanding and living.  Here we not only love God but we seek to love what God loves. 

The fourth degree of love is to love ourself for the sake of God.  Here just like a drop of water disappears in a quantity of wine and is enriched so our life gives way to the will of God completely.  This is truly a greater degree for it requires a more personal involvement of self-surrender.  We learn to surrender what is closest to ourself, which is ourself.  

St. Bernard reminds us that this process of purification is aided by the gift of our weak bodies.  It is the weak body that becomes a source of motivation for the soul to constantly call upon the Lord, to beg for guidance and direction and strength.  The weak body helps the soul love God because it gives us entrance into the humble awareness that we need that which is beyond ourself, we need what Jesus dies to give.  

The weak body and the desires and passions that wage war within us keeps us humble and needy; it keeps us begging and asking correctly thus we progress forward and our love is purified. 

Like the drop of water enriched by wine so to our drop of neediness via our human weakness is enriched by the mercy and grace of God until eventually we desire what God desires and thus are exalted.  

Thus we say as every one who has ever loved says, " I love Him, thus I want to be with him, and at last, I am with Him."

'For God's sake' becomes our interior motivation; it becomes our battle cry as this war wages on.