Bible
Study: Timothy 3:14-16 and Luke 7:31-35.
Whether
you like it or not, there will always be people who would criticize anything
and everything you or others do. The last thing any man would ever succeed in
doing in this life is to be able to please everybody. No matter how hard you
try, there will always be a loophole or error in whatever you do. That is just
life for you.
Just hear
what Jesus says in today’s Gospel passage “To what then shall I compare the men
of this generation, and what are they like? … For John the Baptist has come
eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of
man has come eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a
drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Luke 7:31-34.
Has God
put an idea in your mind and you are still waiting to get approval from people
before you launch that idea into reality? Wait no more my dear because it is
not people’s approval you need but God’s.
Are you
worried about what people are saying about you behind your back? Do you
sometimes like to eavesdrop on conversations about you? Stop it because I bet
you, you will never like what you will hear.
Do you
feel affected by the names people call you? Grow up my dear. There was never a
person who did not have a bad nick-name at some point in time. As long as the
name is not what your father and mother gave to you, trust me, it is not for
you. Laugh over it and move on with your life.
Are you
constantly trying to read people’s mind, constantly wondering what they might
be thinking about you? Enough is enough. God gave you just one brain, if he knew
you needed more, he would have given you those of others. Stop trying to
combine yours with others, allow them to use their own the way they like and
you will have less headaches.
One thing
is sure. If only we try to please God as much as we waste time and efforts
trying to please people, our lives would be much better. As long as people do
not have the capacity to see through our hearts like God does, we will never, I
repeat, never, succeed at pleasing them.
Yes,
people criticize us because they lack the capacity of ever getting to know us
as much as God does. However not all criticism is bad. There is something
called constructive criticism. This is when people criticize us because they
want us to be better at what we do. You can always tell if a particular
criticism is constructive or not based on the manner of approach and the
seriousness of the matter involved. For instance, I am always happy when people
point out my spelling or pronunciation errors because they remind me that I am
still learning and I have improved a lot by taking corrections.
It is in
this light that we are able to appreciate Paul’s letter to Timothy wherein he
admonishes the young Bishop on the qualities expected of the office. Paul says:
“I am writing these instructions to you so that…you may know how one ought to
behave in the household of God. 1 Timothy 3:14-15.
In actual
sense, no single human being in perfect. We all need teachers, mentors or
guides. As they say, it is only your friend that would tell you whether or not
your mouth is smelling. And for us to really benefit from any friendship or
mentorship at all, we must be humble enough to see things from their own
perspective and not be puffed up by pride. (Pride is another form of idolater
wherein the self becomes a god.)
Today we
celebrate the memorial of Saints Cyril and Cornelius, two great Church leaders
at a very rocky point in the Church’s history. With their efforts and
sacrifices, they were able to pull the church through. Cornelius eventually became
a pope and it was during his reign that the church suffered from the heresy of
Novatianism, a belief that the church had no power to welcome back Christians who
had denied their faith as a result of persecution.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, I place my life in your hands. Help me to strive to please you alone and
not the people around me. Amen.
Good morning.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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