Holy wisdom for today’s life.
“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” — Matthew 10:37
This is perhaps one of the most controversial phrases in the Bible.
I believe Jesus refers to putting God above but understanding God as an immutable guiding principle.
In other words,
God = unconditional and true love.
But let me develop it for you
Unconditional love comes first. Why?
Let’s make a list of priorities in life,
- Health
- Money
- Attractive partner
- Family
- Professional success
- Having a good time.
All of the above are noble motives. And it’s all very well that they are on the list of priorities, but if we remove the concept of unconditional love from the equation, everything goes to hell.
Let’s see it with examples.
- Health. Imagine that health is at the top of your list. When you don’t have it, what will happen? How will you feel? And how will your relationship with sick people who can give you a virus be? If your health is the first thing on your list, you will surely exclude them.
- Money. If money is the first thing in your life because you think you can solve all other issues, such as good medical coverage, family economic stability, etc., you have not learned anything. Because not everything is money in this life, and some things can not be bought with the love of your loved ones.
- Attractive couple. We all get older; if the goal that rules your life is to have a glamorous partner, let me tell you something: either you learn to love her for something more than her physique, or you’ll end up alone because you also get wrinkled and get old.
- Family. Having family as a priority does not necessarily include having the family of your neighbors as a priority, and that generates a toxic competitiveness that brings you closer to war than to the social collaboration among citizens necessary to live in a democracy.
- Professional success. If success is important to you, surely the end justifies the means. And if that is so, instead of being a social pillar, you will become a competitive being who destroys everything he touches in pursuit of that success.
- Have a good time. There is nothing wrong with the carpe diem way of life, but for you to have a good time, surely someone else must work hard to provide society’s services: doctors, teachers, construction workers, carriers, etc. And if you don’t contribute anything, would that be fair?
Conclusion
If you put unconditional love at the top of your priority list, everything will take care of itself.
- The health of society will be the most important thing, and therefore technological advances will be developed that you can surely benefit from when you get sick.
- Money will be used so that unconditional love will reach the underprivileged and will not be sequestered by a few. And in this way, the social elevator will be unlocked.
- The concept of a partner will is a person to grow old with and to team up with in the face of life’s adversities.
- The greatest professional success will be to honor that unconditional love by doing what is best for all, that is, to serve your society excellently to become an agent of social change.
- Having a good time will become healthy, focused on the spirit’s needs, such as artistic development or sports.
Takeaway
The West is organized around these values. When people put the concept of unconditional love first, they placed solidarity among citizens, “Treat each other as I have treated you,” as brothers.
We are not islands. Human beings have doubled their life expectancy in the West and multiplied their quality of life thanks to mutual collaboration, which facilitates social and technological advances.
When you aim for the stars, you can miss the target and end up on the moon. But if you aim low, the only thing you will achieve is to break your neighbor’s window across the street.
We have to aim high, so high that that moral courage, that true love cascades over all of us and all areas of our lives.
Only then will the world be a paradise on earth.
A virtual hug
AG