Human or Divine? A Battle of the Wills

One of the most fruitful challenges during the season of Lent, I argue, is the spiritual tension that develops between the desires of the human will versus assenting to the will of God. A reality of the journey toward spiritual discernment is the daily battle that ensues between following the will of God or ignoring it altogether for one's own desires of the will. This presents a tension or battle between the personal desires of man versus a desire for God. The penitential character of the Lenten season provides us with an opportunity to strengthen our desire for God by eliminating those distractions that blind us from the love of God and the opportunity to live according to His will as revealed by His Son, Jesus Christ.

An important characteristic of our human condition is that we were made to interact with the Divine. We are reminded of this in St. Peter’s second epistle where he tells his fellows disciples that  His (God’s) divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion, and become partakers of the divine nature.[1] The notion that we have become partakers of the divine nature reveals the importance of why God made man, and why man needed salvation from the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

Participation in God’s salvific plan requires both an assent of the will toward God and an aversion of the will toward evil. The Catechism refers to our partaking of the divine nature within the context of the Word becoming flesh, and our reception of the Word of God becoming man, and the Son of God becoming the Son of Man, so that we may enter into communion with God and become a son of God.[2] Both examples from St. Peter and the Catechism reflect a battle of the wills, one human, the other divine. From the onset of the fall of man, the resuscitation of our relationship with God would entail a battle between man assenting to God or to something or someone else other than God.

When man was created, God never ceases to reveal Himself and the mystery of his will to his children.[3] Even after the fall, God emphasized his desire to constantly reveal Himself in the first Gospel discourse found in the book of Genesis.[4] This same sequence is echoed by Christ, where he rightfully proclaims to everyone present that the Kingdom of God is at hand and all are called to repent and believe in the Gospel.[5] The constant battle of wills between the human and divine is at the forefront of our journey with Christ, and our eternal rest with Him in heaven. Man’s mastery of his will, called to be ordered toward God, requires a free, responsible act of the will that progresses in virtue and seeks the good and avoids the evil of the world. The Catechism reminds us that God made us to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, the praise of his glorious grace, for the glory of God is man fully alive.[6] St. Paul tells us that we are destined to be loved by God,[7] and the gift of love is intimately bound in the adherence of our own human will to the will of the Father.

In the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, the following petition reminds us of the importance of following the will of the Father: “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The significance of this petition reflects God’s desire for our salvation by living in the truth of the Gospel proclaimed by his Son, Jesus Christ. This message is reinforced in St. Paul’s letter to St. Timothy, where salvation is partly predicated on man’s willingness to seek the truth in the one mediator, Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all.[8] The Catechism beautifully describes the actions of the Son of God, through his human will how to respond to the will of the Father,

In Christ, and through his human will, the will of the Father has been perfectly fulfilled once for all. Jesus said on entering into this world: "Lo, I have come to do your will, O God." Only Jesus can say: "I always do what is pleasing to him. In the prayer of his agony, he consents totally to this will: "not my will, but yours be done.” For this reason, Jesus "gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father." "And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.[9]

If there is a virtue that can strengthen our moral resolve to choose the will of the Father over our own, it is the virtue of temperance. Temperance moderates our attractions to the pleasures of the world and provides us with a prudent view of these pleasures through the lens of Christ. Temperance calms our carnal desires and redirects them in a holy and just way. The Catechism describes the temperate person as one who directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion.[10] In conclusion, St. Augustine provides us with a path on how to live well in accord with the will of Father over our own,

To live well is nothing other than to love God with all one's heart, with all one's soul and with all one's efforts; from this it comes about that love is kept whole and uncorrupted (through temperance). No misfortune can disturb it (and this is fortitude). It obeys only [God] (and this is justice), and is careful in discerning things, so as not to be surprised by deceit or trickery (and this is prudence).[11]