Athanasius and Augustine today
were considered to be the father of Christian civilization and also the father
of the western civilization. Tough both Athanasius and Augustine was not
someone who’s rich, famous, neither powerful, they were able to make a huge
impact and leaving their legacy on the Christian and western civilization;
their names were not forsaken even until today’s generation. They were able to
make an impact on the civilization because of their Christian concept of
deferring gratification, knowing that and the future which is the fulfillment
of God’s promise will come, and therefore it is important to prepare for the future.
On the other hand, the Roman Caesars who were rich, famous, and powerful, were
only able to make a small and even negative impact to the human civilization
since they don’t practice deferring. They only live for today; hence, tomorrow
is not important since they don’t even care if tomorrow will come or not.
Because of it, the Roman Caesars only leave a small legacy and most their names
was no longer remembered.
The
main problem in many people today, is that they don’t defer their
gratification. In the world today, most people tend to enjoy their life with
the convenience of modernity and lose their self-control. This case was clearly
seen nowadays in the youths and students where they are not being serious in
their study or preparations, and later regrets it in their future. They were
not able to control themselves from having fun such as playing games or
watching television, satisfying their will of flesh. As the consequence, later
at their older age, when future calls, they miss many great opportunities in
life since they’re not prepared; opportunities only favor a prepared mind.
For
the people to practice deferring gratification they need to firstly understand
that all their actions have consequences; therefore, what they do today,
matters for their tomorrow and future. Since people always have a dream for a
good future, they should prepare for their good future at the young age.
Galatians 6: 7-9 says that we will reap what we sow; those who sow to the
flesh, the flesh will reap corruption; but those who sow to the Spirit shall
reap life everlasting from the spirit.
At
the time of junior high, I always think that studying high school is not
important and worth for me and my future; university is the period important
according to me. With such mindset, I seldom do my homework well and I never
study for any test. I was constantly playing my computer and leaving my
school-work blank. When I receive my report card with many C’s, I was satisfied
at that time since I don’t care for my education. One day, my relative told me
a story about her school days. My relative, who was also considered as a lazy
student with many bad grades, graduated from high school and tried to apply to
many famous or good universities and was not accepted; therefore, she entered a
very low standard private university and she still barely passes the
university. As she was looking for occupation, the jobs available for her were
the job with very low position. Since she told me her story, I was really
afraid to see my future the same way; then, I really care for my study and
since then my grades boost up. I then understand that what I do today in my
high-school year will be very important for my future; therefore, I should have
self-control and defer my gratification. Just how my relative motivates me, I
also should help motivate my friends who were still unable to see that what
they do today matters for their future so that they too may realize and was not
too late to change their mindset.
As a
conclusion, Augustine and Athanasius have showed us through their impact, the
benefit of deferring gravity. They understood that what they do today is
important for the future. The main problem in the world today is that people
are lacking of self-control and not deferring their gratification for the sake
of their future. They should understand that what they do today matters for
their future. I should motivate my friends who still do not practice deferring
their gratification that they may realize that what they do today is important
for their future. Alfred A. Montapert, an American motivational Author, says, “Nobody
ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices.” Our choice
today will bring the consequence in our future.