Thursday, May 26, 2011

Dignity As Sons and Daughters of God

Dignity is such a profound word.  Dictionary.com defines it as nobility or elevation of character; worthiness.  As human beings, we are dignified because of the freedom of will that God has given us.  He did not design us to be puppets.  He designed us to have the power to choose.  It is difficult for Him because everytime we choose sin, it hurts Him. But He has faith in us that we will go back to Him and do His will, as our personal decision.

The loss of dignity is the root of poverty, corruption, and immorality.

When a people has lost its sense of dignity, an individual will only fend for himself and be apathetic about others.  The result of course, is poverty because one can only be truly liberated if there is cooperation, sharing, and understanding.

Besides greed, corruption is a result of not having substantially something to be proud of or to safeguard.  If the very thing one should protect is already ransacked; or if the source of your pride is something to be ashamed about, then what would stop a tempted individual from making some money out of a seemingly hopeless case? If a nation is without dignity, its people will compromise its integrity. There is a need to remind the people of their goodness and make their innate noble values shine and make these part of their way of life. When dignity is restored, then their outlook and actions will change for the good. Corruption will then not be the norm in society but integrity.

Immorality is the result of misunderstanding what dignity is all about. Dignity and freedom is not about being able to choose what you think is right.  It's about adhering to principles that Jesus himself has laid upon us. If we have faith like a mustard seed by believing that Jesus is indeed the God of all, then we are to follow His teachings.  "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.This is the greatest and the first commandment.The second is like it:You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22: 37-39)."  Looking upon these commandments, if we love God with all we've got, then we will not choose what is immoral or shameful before the eyes of God. If we love our neighbor, (that means other people including the unborn, the poor, the sick and dying, our family, our fellow citizens) then would we do to them what we wouldn't want done to ourselves? Would we abort ourselves? Would we kill ourselves? Would we not feed ourselves?  Would we want parents with same sex? Immorality is therefore a self-serving interpretation of dignity and freedom in which is not aligned to God's principles.

As people of God, our hallmark is the dignity and freedom as sons and daughters of God (Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Faith). We therefore act accordingly and willfully as prince and princesses of a noble and great King. Our dignity comes from giving joy to our God by pursuing the purpose He has set for us on earth. In doing this we are ennobled, elevated, and made worthy by the grace of God.

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