Encouraging Others to Succeed

Last month, our kids had a Sportsfest in school which involved us, the parents. They belonged to different teams according to their level. We were cheering on the sides, giving them the encouragement they needed. We'd shout, "Go Sev!" or "You can do it Kaitlyn!" We cheered on to make them strive harder and to diffuse their doubts. Our kids won some medals and we were very proud of them.

Are you an "encourager?" Do you cheer for other people to help them succeed? The world we live in is very competitive and we find ourselves in this race to success. We strive to reach our goals, so we work hard and jump at opportunities. We tend to look at our status and ask ourselves, "How am I doing compared to my peers?" While we are busy trying to reach the top to get the gold, there are those who are left behind and struggling. The question is, "Do we even care?"

Christ does.

He came from heaven to earth, died on the cross, and rose from the grave so people may join Him in the ultimate finish line...heaven. To achieve a relationship with Jesus is the true gold medal in life. There can be no real success apart from the Lord.

How can we help others succeed in life and in their salvation?

1. Praise others for their strengths.

Each of us is endowed with a gift. This gift is something that we do better than most people. When we recognize this in a person, remind him of how good he is with this talent. This positive input can go a long way in boosting one's confidence.  This will be a source of affirmation and will help in pressing on when times get rough.

2. Support others in their weaknesses.

Instead of just criticizing, loving correction is a better option. When we criticize, we just simply say something negative. When we correct, we first discuss the strong points then identify the areas for improvement, in the most loving way. We encourage him or her to strive harder. We cheer them on.  When a correction is due, the usual problem is that we do not want to experience the discomfort in confronting the person. When a person hears feedback by means of gossip, this will pull him down and even cause anger. Supporting others in their weaknesses will let them realize that there are still people who love and care for them.

3. Lead them to Christ.

The best way to help people succeed is to lead them to Christ, Who wants us to live in abundance. Our hope should be in Christ and not in money, fame, or power. The devil lures mankind to the wrong kind of success. Satan offers fake gold which fades.  The evil one leads the proud to the finish line of suffering and torment. In Jesus, even if we will just live a simple lifestlye, our joy will be immense.

Along the way, some people cheered us on to be able to achieve our goals at the moment. Let us thank these people. Now, it is our turn to cheer for others, even if we ourselves are currently struggling. For it is in giving encouragement that we ourselves also gain it. When we become selfless, we transcend to a higher idea of fulfillment and success. I honor the educators who use their intelligence, skills, and even pass up financial opportunities in order to mold young minds. They find their joy in seeing their students succeed in life. Like our parents, they too are our avid cheerleaders on the sidelines while we run towards our goals of learning. Their example help us understand that for everybody to win, we have to put others first.

So we cheer each other on towards growing in our faith. Go, go, go for Christ! We can do it for the Lord!

Viral Faith

Faith is strengthened when it is given to others. -Redemptoris Missio

Today, I acquired this flu virus that's been spreading in the office these past few weeks. I thought I'd be strong enough to resist, but no, I still caught it.

It made me reflect on "Faith going viral". Are we spreading the faith? Are we contagious witnesses of the Good News?

Evangelization, though challenging, has a very simple faith formula: "Love one another as I have loved you (John 13:34)." If we can love others like Christ does, then faith shall spread. Consistent witnessing is tantamount to growth in evangelization.

Bishop Ambo, in his homily said "Bad news is contagious but Good news is even more contagious." The question we can ask ourselves is "Do we bring good news?" How often do we catch ourselves complaining, blaming, and frustrated? As if hope is gone.

People compromise their faith because of the loss of hope. The hope that one day, corruption will be a thing of the past or spouses will be more faithful to their vows or teens will save sex for marriage, will keep us striving for the ideal and not settle for less. When society becomes less hopeful, compromises happen. That's when laws that are anti-life start to get proposed. When society loses its faith in God, its concept of hope diminishes. But love can bring it back. If we love with the strength that comes from God, then anything is possible.

Faith, hope, and love are indeed connected to each other. St. Paul pointed out, "And the greatest of these is love (1 Cor. 13:13)."

Let us spread faith and hope by being infected with the contagious love of Christ.
 

Zero Tolerance

Why should any human being in the world be merely tolerated? What man has ever made a sacrifice in the name of tolerance? It leads men, instead, to express their own egotism in a book or a lecture that patronizes the downtrodden group. One of the cruelest things that can happen to a human being is to be tolerated. Never once did Our Lord say, “Tolerate your enemies!” But He did say, “Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you” (Matt. 5:44). Such love can be achieved only if we deliberately curb our fallen nature’s animosities.” -Fulton J. Sheen, Peace of Soul

There are many instances that we just let the wrong doing of others pass us by.  We tend to "tolerate" it and just keep it to ourselves.  But if we look deeper, we just don't want to be aggraivated by the situation or we just want to evade the person.  As Sheen would put it, One of the cruelest things that can happen to a human being is to be tolerated.

Loving your enemies is the Christian response to those whom we easily despise or to those who have wronged us.  To love is to be in an uncomfortable situation, where our humility is tested and our patience is challenged.  Jesus, despite knowing the criticisms he will get for entering the home of Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-12), didn't mind for love and salvation was His agenda.  Who was Zacchaeus? A rich "publican," that is, a tax collector for the Roman authorities, and precisely for this he was regarded as a public sinner (Benedict XVI).

The love of Christ transformed this public sinner.  Zacchaeus offered half of his possessions to be given to the poor and to pay back four times of whatever was extorted.  Salvation has come for this sinner.

Christ does not tolerate, He loves.  And so must we.

Radical Kindness

image from  http://thefilmstage.com/reviews/review-les-miserables/

The movie Les Miserables depicts how radical kindness can impact the lives of many. The Bishop's gesture to Jean Valjean made ripples of hope for others.

By God's grace, an act of unexpected generosity and selfless giving can change a person.

Who would have expected that Christ would suffer and die a shameful death? He gave of Himself, radically and unexpectedly, as a ransom for our sins. And so we are saved, as well as those to whom we evangelize.

Upon experiencing Christ fully, through people and through prayer, one cannot help but to also be Christ to others and see Christ in others. As Les Miserables' most famous line goes, "To love another person is to see the face of God."

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. (John 13:34)

When was the last time that we gave unexpectedly?  Are we ready to do an act of radical kindness?

What's in it for God?

John Maxwell writes about how to check our motives in pursuing unselfish thinking. He described what Benjamin Franklin does in order to do this. According Maxwell, everyday Franklin asks himself two questions, "What good am I going to do today?" And before sleeping, he'd ask, "What good have I done today?

In a world where most people are motivated by thinking "What's in it for me?", we can go against the norm by thinking "What's in it for God?" For God wants us to serve Him by helping others.

In Mark Chapter 3:10, Jesus cures the sick despite being in discomfort.

"He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him."

Some things to ponder:

When we do good, do we expect recognition or a pat on the back?

When we help, is God glorified?

Lord, purify our motives. Grant us the grace to be unselfish. May the love that you fill in our hearts overflow into generous service for others.