Wednesday, March 24, 2010

What is more important, faith in Jesus or Love?

First I wonder what the asker means by "Love."  I assume he/she meant "romantic love," which I would like to differentiate from the higher and more encompassing form of love, which I will call "True Love."  "True Love" is what Jesus has taught us to do - to love God with all our hearts, and all our minds, and all our strength, and all our souls, and to love one another as he has loved us.  I also like this definition from the 1st Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, Verses 4 to 7:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
My simple and short answer to the question is: Faith in Jesus means to Love!  But if the asker is talking about romantice love, faith in Jesus obviously is more important.

If your romantic love is asking you to choose between him/her and Jesus, it is a sign to not continue with that relationship!  Because in every relationship, Jesus should be at the center, and not an optional or temporary component that your "(romantic) love" can replace when he/she comes along!  It is actually quite sad to hear some stories of men or women giving up Jesus (i.e. in the form of stopping their service/mission for Him, like singing in the Church choir, etc., or by giving up their daily prayer routine, etc.) for what they think is their "true love."

Anyway, this is where Faith comes in - can you have faith in God that he is still preparing someone much better than your current romantic love?  Or will you settle for the current one?  In the end, it might actually be the same person, only a better person.  Or it could be a person you haven't yet met.  Or it could be someone you have already met but you don't know yet that it's him/her.  It could be anyone!  And he/she will certainly be a gift from God.  But God would not give you a gift that will let you choose to abandon Him.

It might be difficult to imagine right now how anyone could be better than the current, and this is where True Faith comes in, the kind of Faith in God believing that He has the best plan for us, and that we don't have to stray away from Him.

True Love waits.  Personally I know this for a fact.  If you want to know my story, drop a comment.


Anyway, the decision is yours to make.  What do you think God would like you to choose?  I pray that your choice is the same as what God would choose if He were in your shoes.  Give it some time, think about it, pray for His guidance.  Next thing you know (took me years - but it's all worth it), you have a great story to share with others who are undergoing the same "dilemma."

God bless!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Why did Jesus speak in parables?

The simple and short answer to this is: to make it easier to communicate his message (i.e. to make it easier for us, his "audience," to understand his teachings).

From Matthew 13:13: "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand."

Essentially Jesus spoke in parables so that his teachings are easier to understand.  Sometimes, we have been ingrained with certain habits and beliefs that while we are able to "hear" of "new" teachings, we do not really "listen" or "understand" fully those new teachings.

One example I can give you is imagine you have a friend who participated in a certain sports competition and lost.  You come up to him and then, what do you say?

Do you tell him, "You lost because you are not good enough.  The other person is better and deserving to win!"?

Of course you do not tell him that, fact or not!  It is very judgmental!

Instead as a loving friend, you might tell him, "That's alright, friend.  Let's practice some more and maybe we can win next time!  I'll help you out next time.  Maybe we can do more of this certain exercise so that you can better your chances of winning!"  Or you might tell him, "Good effort! But I'm sorry about the loss. Don't worry, I'm still your friend."  Or something like that.  Or, you might crack a joke, to cheer your friend up.

The thing is, your friend is at such an emotional state that he cannot be able to accept you telling him that he's "not good enough" directly.  So the best thing to do is to say something to cheer him up (or not tell him anything at all, just be there and comfort him).  Say something that indirectly communicates what you want to tell him, but at the same time it is a loving way to say it...

This is how Jesus spoke to many during that time because all that he was speaking of were "new" to them.  They were used to taking a rest (even from doing good deeds) on the Sabbath.  They were used to stoning adulterors to death.  They were used to disowning prodigal sons who have returned.  They were used to not loving their enemies.

But Jesus preached about turning back to God, and about love, and if he spoke in an unloving way, e.g. if he just told people "Repent for the end is near!", who are to believe him?

In this same way, I admire Bo Sanchez because he gives teachings that are very much relevant to his audience.  He knows that we - the Philippines - are not economically well, and that many of us would want out of our current financial situations.  So he teaches about how to make money - and adds that money is not evil, but it is a tool we can use to bless others.  He encourages us to level up and become rich, so that we have more to share with others who are less fortunate than us!

In the same way, when you are a Christian and you are in a non-Christian city or country, you do not openly preach about Jesus and Christianity and so on.  When you are a religious and prayerful Christian and you are around not-so-prayerful Christians, you do not just force them into praying, or talk about your prayer life!  That is not the loving way - that is not how Jesus would do it!  Instead you would first do acts of kindness and generosity out of love - as Jesus has taught us... thru parables!