who must pass judgment?...

When I was still teaching in the grade school department of San Beda College in Manila, Philippines wayback in the 90's, and my classes would be inspected by the supervisors or the principal, I would become uptight, nervous and tense, because I wanted to get a good evaluation of my teaching.

I think and I guess, it is natural for us to seek the approval of our bosses. There is something within each of us that makes us aspire to be liked by as many as people as possible.

Everybody wants to be liked. Everybody wants to be appreciated and admired. Everybody wants to be popular. And according to the world’s standards, the more popular you are, the better for you.

Unfortunately, this obsession to be liked by many people, this desire to be approved by our bosses, this aspiration to always get a good evaluation of ourselves and our work’s performance, can make us very tired and unhappy in life.

Sooner or later, we will realize it is not possible to make everybody happy all of the time.

Sooner or later, we will realize it is not realistic to make everybody like you, admire you and appreciate you every time.

St. Paul had that in his mind. That is why he said in Cor 4:1-5, “It matters little to me whether or not human court pass judgment on me. I do not even pass judgment on myself.”

Who passes judgment on Paul? Who passes judgment on us? - It is only God.

It is only God whom we should please and it is only God whose approval we should be obsessed with getting.

We know we could get carried away by popularity.

We know we could get carried away by fame and glory.

We know we could get carried away by approval and evaluation.
Nowadays, the higher the evaluation, the better the grades in school, the better for you.

My dear friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, when shall we give up on trying to please our superiors, bosses, parents, everybody?

We are already tired, exhausted, worn out.

We are already stressed out and are already in the brink of bitterness and resentment because no matter what we do, there are always people around us who will say we are wrong, we are a failure.

God is very easy to please. We only have to do His will. Let what others say be the last of our considerations.

Our rule in life is, we must get a hundred percent grade from God.

We must please God rather than man. In pleasing God, we will find that life is easy. We will find life no longer a big burden but a peaceful one.

Bless us all…