An often used excuse that people give when they do something bad is that it’s just human nature. We all have desires that we seek. Some of these desires could be the desire for food, safety, social contact, acceptance, curiosity, and tranquility. It’s perfectly normal to have desires, but we shouldn’t imply that we are animals and can’t control our actions because of human nature.
We may say that the temptations of the world are too great. We may claim life is unfair or hard and God just doesn’t understand us. He does understand what we go through because He went through it Himself. Jesus came to us fully God and yet also fully human, so not only does He know us because He created us, but He knows us because He lived as one of us.
Jesus always sought out sinners and those who were in need of help. He also called out bad behavior and sin when He saw it. He desired to show humanity the path to Heaven and that through Him and His life giving waters, we might live forever.
It’s inevitable that we’ll all commit many sins in our life. However, we can either throw in the towel and not fight against temptation or we can do our best to completely avoid the serious sins and minimize committing the minor ones. Jesus knew that we would need help and so He gave us the sacraments to give us grace and strength to help us stay on the road to Heaven.
The main thing we need to remember is that our God loves us so much that He chose to come to us as one of us. He lived the life of a human and knows the pressures and issues we have in life. The fact that He can relate to us is reason enough to turn to Him when we are in need. Jesus shows us that it’s possible to say no to temptation and make it to Heaven. Jesus may also be God, but we are all made in God’s image. He never said that following Him would be easy. However, if we are successful, we will fulfill humanity’s deepest desire – to be with God for all eternity.
