Faithfulness

Henri Nouwen writes in Here and Now:

Faithfulness means that every decision we make in our lives together is guided by the deep awareness that we are called to be living signs of God's faithful presence among us.

Think about that for a moment. I wonder if too often the decisions we make are guided by what we perceive as obligation or duty - "this is what I am supposed to do."  What is the results of decisions made with that in mind?  Bitterness?  Perhaps a sense that someone now owes us something?

What if, instead, we made decisions guided by the awareness that what we do is to be a living sign of God within us?  Do we believe God dwells with us?  If we do, then shouldn't that make a difference in the lives we lead?  Should someone be able to look at what we do and see the influence of the God we love?  Who lives with us?  What we do then becomes an expression of God's presence within us, and the result is grace. We don't feel like anyone owes us anything because we did it out of love - love of God, love for someone else, God's love flowing through us.  There isn't bitterness, there is only joy.