Inspire, motivate, edify

THESE words should somehow be constantly playing in our mind if only to be aware that in our relation with one another, we to need inspire, motivate and edify others always.

No matter how urgent or how technical, professional or business-related our dealings are with others, or how keen we are in achieving efficiency and effectiveness, the net effect should be that they be left inspired, motivated and edified by us. This in the end is the purpose of our dealings. It’s charity more than anything else that matters.

Failing in this point, we would have failed in what is most essential in our dealings. Yes, we may achieve a certain amount or degree of success in some aspects, but we would miss the main point.

For Christ himself said: “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul?” (Mt 16,26) This is the essence and final effect of charity—our soul united with its Creator and our Father in whose life of love we are supposed to share.

We can apply these words not only on one’s individual self but also on the others with whom we interact, since we by definition are also social beings, not only individual persons.

We have to realize more deeply that we have a grave duty to take care not only of our own selves but also of the others. This duty is inherent in our nature, and reinforced and articulated explicitly by a divine commandment: “Love one another as I have loved you.” In short, we are also responsible for the others.

And so, the question to ask ourselves at the end of the day is whether in all our dealings and transactions, the effect of charity was made, that is, that we managed to inspire, motivate and edify others.

Inspiring, motivating and edifying others are certainly not a result of a mere gimmick or ploy, a fruit of one’s intelligence and cleverness alone. These can only happen when we are vitally united with God whose essence is love. These are primarily a spiritual affair, driven by divine love.

And so, when we say that the others should be left inspired, motivated and edified by us in all our dealings, we need to understand that we achieve those goals always in Christ, with God’s grace, and not just by our own human powers, though all these human powers should also be harnessed at the instance of grace.

It’s only in this way that even in our human limitations, and, worse, in our failures and mistakes, we can still manage to inspire, motivate and edify others. If we run short of words and arguments to do these, at least our living example of how we are seeing and taking things, vitally following the example of Christ, would do the job.

It’s this authentic union with Christ that would enable us to see and understand things, events and persons properly. It would enable us to know when to be tolerant and when to be intolerant, when to speak and when to keep quiet, how to suffer misfortunes and enjoy successes, etc.

Doing our transactions by mainly using merely human criteria and ideologies limits our understanding of success to human and material success only. It would be helpless, not knowing what to do with human failures and mistakes which inevitably happen in our life.

We need to expand our understanding of how we ought to treat one another, especially in the area of our work and other big human concerns, like in our business, politics, culture, etc., since it is in these areas where the demands of charity are usually relegated to the background to give way to the criteria of efficiency and effectiveness, etc.

Besides, there’s that widespread prejudice that giving importance to charity, to the duty to inspire, motivate and edify others, constitutes a hindrance and impediment in one’s aspirations. A spoiler, in short.

Actually, nothing can be farther than the truth. In the first place, charity never disparages whatever is truly human and material in our dealings. It will uphold, purify and elevate it to the spiritual and supernatural order. It may involve some inconveniences, but it will always protect and even demand the highest human and material standards in our dealings.

More than these, charity enables us to meaningfully suffer pain and contradictions that are unavoidable in life.

And so we just have to learn the nitty-gritty of how to inspire, motivate and edify others.