SAWA KA NA BA MAGMAHAL?

Or worst, baka pagod ka na magmahal?

God calls us to love everyone. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). That includes the un-loveable. But sometimes it can get tiring right?

• You treat that difficult person with goodness yet they pay you back with hatred.
• You want that person to be good but they respond with “mind your own business”.
• You asked that person to focus on the blessing. But the burdens drive his or her life.
• You encouraged the person to avoid sin yet they justify it with “everyone does it anyway!"

You tried everything but it doesn’t work. "Sila ay sala sa init, sala sa lamig.” (Damn if you do, damn if you don’t)

You tried everything but they don’t change.

In today’s gospel, Jesus asked the the scribes and the Pharisees, "I ask you, is it lawful on the sabbath to DO GOOD or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9)

Jesus is asking us the same question today.

• Will you do good only on days when you feel good?
• Will you do good only to persons who are “good” to you?
• Will you stop doing good because the other person is not changing?
• Will you LOVE the un-loveable?

Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. He doesn't care whether it was Sabbath or not. Because doing good does not stop. Loving always takes priority over anything else. Loving is not based on a schedule. Jesus encourages us to do good regardless of season.

But what if the difficult person does not change? Can we quit loving that person? Can we stop doing good for that person?

"Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up” - Galatians 6:9

Don’t quit. Do what Jesus said to the man with the withered hand. Jesus "said to him, “STRETCH OUT your hand." And he did so, and his hand was restored” (Luke 6:10)

Go the extra mile in loving others. Stretch out more. Be more patient. It’s difficult & it will be un-comfortable. But that’s what loving is all about. Follow God, stretch out & see the miracle!

Lastly, pray more for that difficult person. Pray more because only God can change a person. You can't but God can!

"I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them." - Ezekiel 36:26-27

Have a blessed & loving week! - alvinfabella@yahoo.com