By Constance T. Hull, Catholic Exchange, Feb. 22, 2023
Constance T. Hull is a wife, mother, homeschooler, and a graduate with an M.A. in Theology with an emphasis in philosophy. Her desire is to live the wonder so passionately preached in the works of G.K. Chesterton and to share that with her daughter and others. …
I am an extremely strong-willed person. I’m not nearly as strong willed as when I was younger, but it is still an ongoing battle. Our Lord, in His mercy, has had to break me repeatedly. Strong-willed people are incredibly independent and we often think we can go it alone or do it ourselves. This makes us prone to deep-seated sins in relation to pride. Pride is the heaviest of sins and is a major stumbling block on the path to holiness, which is why Christ does indeed have to break down certain souls, including me.
The path to holiness cannot be won through pride. We only attain it through the humility found in a willingness to place God at the center of our lives and to submit to His will above our own. For willful people this is a struggle, since so often we want to do it our own way or to know why God is asking us to do something before we do it. The Holy Spirit cannot work freely within us and through us, as long as we are seeking to remain in control and to place our will at the center of everything. At some point we all have to say, as Our Lord did in the Garden of Gethsemane, “not as I will, but as You will.” …
