止於至善 Stopping Only At Perfection

止於至善（瑪22:34-40）
最大也是第一條誡命是『你應全心、全靈、全意，愛上主你的天主。』（申6:5；瑪22:37-38）當中並沒有提及到時間。人自然會問，我們需要維持「全心、全靈、全意」多久呢？
人類始終是受造物，並不完美，況且喪失了原始的恩寵，以至受制於私慾偏情，難以自拔。出於慈悲與公義，天父主動來拯救我們。祂選拔了亞巴郎的家族，到埃及去開枝散葉；興起了梅瑟，建立了盟約，以誡命造就一個「選民」。很明顯，要達到全心、全靈、全意地愛天主，有如儒家思想的「止於至善」，不是一蹴即至的。因此，有如運動員奪標，祇要試跳到某個高度，做到了一個高難度花式，或者跑到了終點（弟後4:7），等等便足夠了，並沒有要求選手永遠保持紀錄！

聖經中能夠名留青史的人物，即使一生中難免有些污點，他們都是在人生的一個場合裡，表達出他們對天主全心、全靈和全意的愛：亞巴郎為了保命而說謊（創12:12-13），卻奉命獻子（22:2）；雖然梅瑟三番四次拒絕天主的委任（出3-4），但過了紅海之後，與以色列全體子民高唱凱旋歌（15:1-21）；達味雖然犯了姦淫和借刀殺人罪（撒下11），但仍不掩蓋他為迎接約櫃，曾當眾半裸，盡力跳躍舞蹈（6:14）；與耶穌基督一同被釘的右盜，亦能夠憑臨終前的一句說話，爭取到樂園的一席位（路23:43）。即使是做了一個時辰的僱工，亦能獲得一個德納（瑪20:9）。再一次證明，天父真的不追究我們的過犯，祇希望我們能成為修和大使（格後5:19-20）！
天父啊，請賜下聖神的勇毅，讓我們能堅持到底，止於至善。亞孟。

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生命恩泉

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Stopping Only At Perfection (Matthew 22:34-40) "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37-38) is the greatest and the first commandment. But it does not mention time. Naturally one will ask, for how long we have to maintain this "all heart, all soul and all mind".
After all, man is only a creature. He is not perfect. Moreover, after losing the original grace, he is controlled by concupiscence and cannot save himself. Out of love and justice, the heavenly Father took the initiative to save us. He elected the family of Abraham and raised it up in Egypt. Then He elected Moses to establish a covenant, making a Chosen People with the commandments. Obviously, to be able to love God with all the heart, with all the soul and with all the mind, like the Confucian teaching of "Stopping at Perfection", cannot be achieved overnight. Therefore, like athlete winners, you are awarded once you are able to jump over a certain height, to perform a highly difficult routine or to run past the finishing line (2 Timothy 4:7). You don't have to keep the record forever!
Biblical characters who are immortalized are not flawless. People remember them because once in their life, they were able to express their love of God with all their heart, soul and mind: Abraham told lies to save his skin (Genesis 12:12-13), but he offered up his only son (22:2). Although Moses declined God's commission five times (Exodus 3-4), after crossing the Red Sea, he led the Israelites in a triumphant hymn (15:1-21). David committed adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11). It did not overshadow his zeal when he danced half-nakedly before the crowd to receive the Ark of Covenant (6:14). The penitent thief, who was crucified together with Jesus Christ, won a place in the paradise with only one sentence (Luke 23:43). Even a worker who had laboured for just one hour received the usual wage (Matthew 20:9). It proves once again, that our Heavenly Father is not counting our trespasses against us. He only wants us to be ambassadors of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).
Heavenly Father, grant us the gift of fortitude. Let us persevere to the end, stopping only at perfection. Amen.