The world chooses very differently from the way a Christian chooses. That’s because the world has a different framework of judgment, and a different starting point. The starting point for making choices in the world is self-centred while for a Christian it is other-centred, the other being God.

As Christians, we can choose life and good, or we could choose death and evil. How do we know which is which? The guidance we need comes from the teaching of Jesus in today’s Gospel where we read, “whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, if we follow God’s law, we will be choosing the way of life and good.

The challenge, all too often, is discerning which is the good choice and which the evil. Under the pressures of everyday life, which alternative is good and which evil often does not seem as clear-cut as we’d like. That’s where the need for wisdom comes in. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, Christians seek “God’s wisdom.”  Opposed to it is the “wisdom of this age.”

What’s the difference between the two? The wisdom of this age is devoted to seeking pleasure, power, and money. The self is at the centre of a person’s endeavours. God’s wisdom, on the other hand is a wisdom that seeks to serve, wants the best for others as well as for one’s self, and desires to glorify God. It is based on the Jesus’ paradox that is the centre of Christian living, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:39). One way leads to pleasure in this life, the other way to eternal joy.

May God grant us the grace to make the right choice!