"We assent (agree with, consent) to God....truly setting our will to be with Him, with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our might. And then we hate and despise our evil stirrings and all that might be occasion of sin, spiritual and bodily....by virtue of Christ which is our Keeper, we assent (agree with, consent) never thereto, but we groan there-against..."
Julian of Norwich (Ch. 52)
Our God-given inner will is good, but we are not strong enough to live on this earth according to good intentions, to live as we know we ought to, as we truly want to deep down. We often fail to love, often get caught in negative emotions, often struggle with selfishness, often find ourselves judging instead of accepting others. But Christ preserves our holy intent inside us, that goodwill that agrees with and consents to God's way of love, that goodwill that doesn't agree with or consent to sin and hatred. Even if we don't always act right, think right or talk right, deep down we are choosing right every time and choosing against wrong every time. We are choosing to and intent on sticking with God and His way of love. We don't have to worry about that intent ever faltering, because it is the holy intent and goodwill of Christ Himself in us, as our intent, and thus it is never going to lapse or fade away! Christ is living in us, and Christ always chooses God in us, always chooses love in us. And even though we don't have the strength to carry out that inner intent of goodness, Christ has the strength in us and Christ will carry it out in us. So God has made us good deep down and this goodness is Christ Himself in us. You cannot get any more perfect goodness than that!
"I have the will to do good."
Romans 7:18 (PHILLIPS)
A Prayer: It is a relief to know that deep down, I only assent to God's will of love and never to sin.