“People are often unreasonable, irrational and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
This message is found on the wall of Mother Teresa’s Home for Children in Calcutta, India. It is based on The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith, but Mother Teresa added her personal, spiritual application to it. As a result, it has become widely associated with her. I relate to that message and it has made a deep impression on me. One reason is that I see the fingerprints of the Holy Spirit on it. Her heart was filled to overflowing with love and selfless service for the poor. As a result, Mother Teresa was carried beyond church doctrine into a very personal relationship with God. She knew from experience that whatever we do for the least of these, we are doing for God.
There is an even more personal reason it has meaning for me. As a young man I prayed for the gift of sharing love and encouragement with those around me. In answer to that prayer, the Holy Spirit began prompting me to be aware of the spiritual application in almost everything I see, hear, read and feel. His promptings have been the basis for each of my blog posts and most of my posts and comments on Face Book. When a reader is encouraged and blessed by something I write it isn’t because of my talent or ability, but because of His prompting in response to their need.
I can picture Mother Teresa reading Dr. Keith’s Paradoxical Commandments in the light of her own experiences and then adding to them the reason why we should do all of those things – not just for mankind or our own gratification, but for God’s glory. When I think about her spiritual fruit, I can’t help but believe Mother Teresa was a saint long before the Catholic Church recognized it.