Skip to main content

Esteem others as always better than us

IF we want our life to be truly Christian and enjoy its true dignity even if it also involves some sacrifices, then we should cultivate the attitude of considering the others as always better than us.

St. Paul said is clearly: “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil 2,3-4)

He rounded it up by saying that Christ himself, “though in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2,6-8)

Of course, Christ himself was firm in this point. He washed the feet of the apostles, and insisted on doing this in spite of the protestation of Peter, if only to give them an example of how each one of them should treat others.

“The greatest among you must be your servant,” (Mt 23,11) he said, obviously referring to situations where one’s superiority over others in intelligence, talents, wealth, health, etc., should never be a cause to be proud and vain, but rather a stronger reason to serve others more and better.

This truth should be engraved in our mind and heart because, first of all, it is commanded to us by Christ himself, and secondly, because it really does good to us and enables us to gain merit for whatever we do to others.

We have to understand why this is so. This truth actually feeds our need to love that is often desensitized, if not completely snuffed, by the clever manoeuvrings of our wounded flesh, and the deceptive arguments of the devil and the world. These latter can offer us perks that seem irresistible but are actually poisonous.

We have to be most wary of the many attractive fallacies our flesh, the world and the devil can give us. That’s the reason why we always have to humble ourselves, to submit ourselves to some self-denial as Christ told us, since our tendency is to get blinded by these glib fallacies that play upon our wounded, sinful condition.

We need to esteem others as better than us, especially when objectively speaking we are in a superior position compared to them. Only when we do so can we love, which is what we always need to do, because we cannot love anyone who is not better than us.

Regarding others as better than us is a prerequisite for loving. And this should not be a result of comparing what we have. It should be a fruit of the conviction that each one is a child of God, no matter how disfigured that dignity is.

As such, everyone else deserves always to be loved, regardless. He therefore has to be better than us somehow. This is, of course, a matter of attitude that is based on our faith more than on anything else.

Precisely because of this faith-based attitude of considering others better than us regardless of whatever, we need to make certain adjustments in the way we think, and wage a continuing struggle against our tendency to consider people based only on some purely human criteria.

Everyone should be aware of this need and should do whatever he can to contribute in creating a culture that fosters and nourishes this attitude. As of now, this attitude is still considered a pariah, acceptable only to a few who are often considered, in the eyes of the world, as strange people.

We should try to inculcate this attitude to children as early as possible, quickly defending them whenever they find themselves in situations that undermine this attitude.

We have to learn the art of true love which can have 3 stages. The first is “eros.” That’s when we love somebody because we can get something from that person. The second is “filia,” which means we love somebody because we happen to share things in common with him.

The third one and the best kind of love is “agape,” where we love somebody regardless of whether that person reciprocates our love or not. This is pure self-giving, completely dispassionate and disinterested, but still full of affection and understanding.


Let’s hope that we can truly consider others as better than us so we can love them, and love them all the way, regardless.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

PIDS expert says income tax cuts justified; warns gov’t of revenue loss

Proposals to amend the personal income tax schedule appear to be well-justified. However, these proposals should include measures that will allow government to recover the revenue loss from lower income taxes. Dr. Rosario Manasan, senior research fellow of state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said at a seminar sponsored by the Philippine Senate, that government should look for new revenue measures to compensate for the projected revenue loss that will arise as a result of the implementation of any of the various proposals to restructure the personal income tax. Currently, there are several income tax reform proposals pending in both houses of Congress. All of them, according to Dr. Manasan, have the same objective of addressing the phenomenon of bracket creep, which results from “non-indexation to inflation of personal income tax brackets”. Simply put, bracket creep occurs when employees’ income increases over time as a result of inflation. Th

PGIN honors Ilocano heroes of past, present through Heroes Walk

SPO1 Allan Lampitoc Franco of Banna, Ilocos Norte and PO2 Jovalyn D. Lozano of Adams, Ilocos Norte receive a resolution of commendation, a certificate of college scholarship grant to their family members and a P20,000 cash incentive each from the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte represented by Governor Imee R. Marcos and Vice Governor Angelo M. Barba in recognition of their bravery and heroic acts in the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao on January 25. Mr. Franco and Mr. Lozano were recognized on March 10 in time for the unveiling of the second batch of Ilocano heroes at the Heroes Walk located along the Sirib Mile in Laoag City.  (Lei Adriano) By Jennifer T. Pambid PGIN-CMO In honor of the heroes who brought freedom, fame and glory to the province as well as to the country in the past century, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the Education Department and Sirib Youth Office launched the second batch of Ilocano Heroes Walk on March 10, 2015.