Build It Up!

I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. (Matthew 5: 17)

Is it too optimistic of me to ask that we consider following this tiny short “blip” of Jesus’ Gospel? I will freely admit that I have taken this one sentence away from the context of what it refers to in following the Law of God, but look at the phrase on its own, and it calls us to treat one another with potential, and not as a problem!

“I have come NOT to abolish...”

When approaching issues or people, or even future plans in life, let us not seek to tear them apart, or abolish their purpose. The issue of the Gulf Oil Spill will not go away, so ignoring it or saying, “I wish they would stop talking about it on the evening news all of the time” will not remove its vital importance for teaching us a valuable lesson in how to RESPOND to such things.

To turn your back on a person, friend or foe, and refuse to consider their role in a situation, even though its not what you want, eliminates the possibility that they have been sent to change you. You could be turning your back on the change you need to improve your purpose or potential!

To refuse to look ahead in life, and abolish the chance that your hopes and dreams just might come true, deprives you of the limitless promise given to us by God!

“...but to fulfill.”

Issues like the Gulf Oil Spill, or the local election in your hometown, or the controversial decision by a government demands that you pay attention and build it up into something that will truly make a difference for you, your family and this world. Don’t just read about the issue, RESPOND to it! And in the case of issues driven by leadership that ultimately affects you, let them know what’s expected of them in the eyes of the Law, and of the well being of “We the people!”

Doesn’t the old song say, “people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world”? I suppose they would by lucky because you cared enough to care. Help build them up into something amazing! RESPOND to them and their needs with a sense of urgency, and an understanding that without you they are less likely to be what they need to be!

Looking ahead to the future, and embracing its potential establishes a discipline that “fulfillment” really is a way of life. To live with the notion that we will one day fulfill a “prophesy” or a promise from God adds a purpose to our lives that is unmatched to anything we could conjure up on our own! We are God’s children, and we have a purpose to discover and fulfill, and when we RESPOND to life, day after day, with the notion that tomorrow will be better, then we truly become “prophets of a future not our own”! (Bishop Oscar Romero, “Bishop of the Poor”)