God has created us out of love and called us by name. This loving name given to us by Him — our identity, mission, purpose, and vocation — is the essence of our being because it expresses itself in everything we do. Much more than our given name by our parents, this name is written in the depths of our hearts and our DNA. Hence, knowing who we are and believing in what God calls us to be gives us immense freedom and joy not to be enslaved and dictated by this world and its ever-changing opinions. In knowing who we truly are, created in the image and likeness of God, we are, then, able to be enriched by His infinite, inexhaustible fullness and love that never stops giving us life and depth. Indeed and truly, nothing in this world will or can ever take it away from us!
Our real name or personal vocation, which is first called and initiated by God Himself, is grounded in love. It gives us the strength, tenacity, as well as humility to constantly persevere, reform, and transform our lives according to His will. It invites us to develop and deepen our personal relationships to better listen, respond, and discern who we are in the present moment of life so we can understand our deepest selves as uniquely formed into being, called to live, and sent forth to be His loving instruments in this world.
While it is so easy for us to be distracted and filled with constant expectations and demands from this world, it is very important to simplify our lives in Him. In such a busy, vocal, and constantly on-the-move world that wants to conform to its popular trends, opinions, and desires, we are called to be concrete, simple, and firm in our resolves to be focused on eternal, transcendental, and everlasting matters. Focusing on what matters and giving life more than what can never be satisfied changes us deep from within. It is very easy to fall into the trap of constantly worrying about how to stand out and having to be pressured to reinvent one’s self to be competitive, noticeable, and acceptable by others but lose sight of what is important, possible, and personal in order to find true, meaningful, and life-giving changes. It is hard for us to admit this, but perhaps in our struggles to stay relevant, we have somewhat lost our eternal and everlasting totality in God.
Even though life can change and be demanding of us, nothing should change our state of life to which we are called by Him, else we will forever be lost, tired, frustrated, resentful, and angry in order to please others but not to seek, understand, orient, and discern our lives for the sake of salvation. Without a life of prayer and worship, we will forever be lost and enslaved by the things of this world because we lack the inner freedom to love and be simple with His personal design and plan for us. We are more than products to be sold and admired or some items in the crowd of many! We are unrepeatedly unique, created for love and by His goodness, hence able to live and be those personal witnesses of His goodness in this confusing and lost world.
While this world and its trendy opinions keep us constantly busy, worried, and preoccupied, our faith paradoxically teaches us that we become more simple, free, and detached from many things when we become more in-depth and enriched by His loving grace. We grow in who we are called to be when we ground ourselves in a life of worship and prayer. As a matter of fact, worship and prayer are not something we give to God (for we cannot really give anything more to Him that He does not have), but they allow us to simply trust, open up our hearts, and allow the Almighty to give Himself to us in ways that are beyond our imagination. Nothing in this world can ever put into words what God is able to communicate and express to us through prayer when He personally and intimately touches us at the depth of the core of our being.
This is what makes us wonderfully made and unique: We are able to give ourselves totally and completely and, at the same time, allow God to love us in a simple, personal, and profound way. Hence, in the depth of our hearts, we discover our vocation to be good, to love, and to be united with Him with simple gifts of gratitude, trust, and total self-giving sacrifices. (His) heart speaks to (our) hearts.
Just like a garden filled with many different types of plants and flowers, God has created each of us unique, irreplaceable, and unrepeatable. This will have to be discovered by everyone because human languages and words are poor, limited, and inadequate to share this profound personal experience with His infinite love. Even if we try to explain it, it will just sound so general and typical for others, but our hearts know, understand, and can hold it as sacred, unique, and personally profound. When we desire, seek, and open ourselves up to God, our hearts will guide us to love the eternal matters that unify, integrate, and transform our lives according to His loving will. We will find it easier to let go and shed what is meaningless as to remain interiorized and hold dear what is meaningful, life-giving, and eternal. Through the power and working of the Holy Spirit, we are transformed into different faces of Christ Jesus for this world and one another as to live the fullness of love as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.
As Christians, we are called to conform ourselves to the image of Christ (cf. Romans 8:29) because this is how we can mature and be transformed (Ephesians 4:13) in unique and special ways to be the loving manifestations of Jesus for others. Again, this is not something burdensome, of Him asking us to do something to be special or stand out from the rest of the crowd or appeal to others, but to truly and simply be who we are called to be deep from within! When trials, hardships, and challenges of life hit, we are able to stand strong, grounded, and not give in to fears caused by the storms because we simply continue to be who we are called to be in those very crises. We find in our very own selves the indescribable level of freedom to not be attached, manipulated, enslaved, or controlled by lesser matters, hence able to be opened to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the challenges against it. As a matter of fact, life in the Spirit helps us to be both grounded and flexible. Like well-rooted plants, we are able to keep developing, adapting, and growing while at the same time being grounded and nourished in the same source and wellspring of eternal love.
When we desire God and want to grow in loving Him, we are able to put Him first and foremost — above all things — as a personal and intimate response to the love He has first given us. His teachings, commandments, and precepts become personal because they bear more significant meanings for us, for we are not just breaking some legalistic interpretations or rules but a real betrayal of love. Our attitude in life will not be just for the minimum requirements but a real Christian attitude, for we have consciously accepted our personal responsibility to love by cherishing and respecting everyone, surrendering ourselves to the Lord, and trying our best to become more free for Him. No one forces us, but we are willing to reorient our hearts to be more like Him through gracious acts of thanksgiving, service, and sacrificial love. We can all uniquely and personally find specific ways to dispose ourselves to encounter Him in every human situation to find, love, and embrace His loving presence in all things.
To be educated (from the Latin root educere) in the matters of the Lord is to allow ourselves to “draw out” the riches, gifts, and blessings that were given to us and lie deep from within. That is why we will personally and joyfully choose to form, conform, reform, and transform ourselves with ongoing development and growth so we can be a better image and likeness of Christ for this world through the power and working of the Holy Spirit, in unity and out of love as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Therefore, let us not be afraid to enrich one another and our world at large with the vocation and its particular, unique, and personal gifts of self first received, treasured, and embraced with love from God. When we can be free of lesser matters, we can create, nourish, and form a community of people who are responsible, dutiful, and free to live, love, and serve one another. Love truly makes us responsible so we can make the good of others our very own responsibility to give and surrender our everything to the Lord, especially to become more free for Him. We are free to genuinely offer the gift of self to those around us so we can love, discern, pray, respect, believe, encourage, assist, and support one another to become what God calls us to be!
I Thirst (John 19:28) with Father Khoi 