The way we treat others must not be dependent on who they are, their status and amount of earthly possessions; neither should it be dependent on what they have done or have not done, on how good or bad they are, on how they treat us or on their character. If the way we treat others is a response of reaction to their own attitudes and behaviour, then there is no need for anyone to do any good to anyone; after all, are we not all sinners alike?
If God were to treat us according to who we truly are and according to the thoughts, words and deeds we do, will we not already be struck down, condemned? Are we not all unworthy and incompletely repentant? Yet, God loves us freely, completely, infinitely. He chose to love us while being fully aware of our every flaw and evil in our hearts. What reason, then can we use to justify our unwillingness to be patient at another's weakness? God sees beyond our weaknesses and sinfulness to gaze on the image and likeness of Himself that He created us in, in the continuous hope that we will one day truly make the determined decision to turn back to Him wholeheartedly. In hope and patience, He waits for us.
If we always focus on the flaws of others, we will forget that they too have the capacity to be good people. Our capacity to love is far greater than human's capacity to sin. This is rightly so since God, the origin and source of love is infinitely greater and more powerful than the prince of darkness, the origin of sin.
Therefore, we must practice daily the recognition of the Truth about God's Creation - that every human person is called to holiness and have the capacity to lead holy lives. Yes, people fall short like ourselves but how would we know that they are not like us, striving to become better people too, or that they have truly had a very painful life experience that they themselves are struggling to cope with? To love like Jesus, to imitate Christ more fully, is to focus our thoughts on the goodness of people so that our minds are far too preoccupied for useless and frustrating thoughts of their minor flaws; our hearts will also be preoccupied with hope and love that there is no room for irritation and anger.
Take an empty cup. 1/2 cup of anger leaves only 1/2 cup of space for love
Likewise, 1/2 cup of love makes room for 1/2 cup of anger
1 cup of anger leaves absolutely zero space for love
Alternatively, 1 cup of love makes no possibly entry of any anger or resentment, jealousy or malice. And then, with love, there are also peace and joy.
Thus, it is up to us how we want to fill the space in our hearts, what we want to fill it with and in what proportions.
13 February 2011, Sunday
4.57pm
We definitely need God's grace to do this! :)
ReplyDeleteYes and He will certainly extend His tremendous help when we pray sincerely for His graces =)
ReplyDelete