Youth Talks 3 out of 10: “How Would Christ React to This?”

“Do I think before I post?” Sometimes. When the memes are too relatable at the moment of how I feel, I would immediately share it without second thoughts; but because my personal account has a lot of priests and sisters as mutual friends, there are also instances when I hold myself together and share it direct to the group chat of my friends instead.

Most of the time, when I tend to feel my emotions are getting too overwhelmed, I use songs and post it on my Messenger, and Instagram notes. If not that, I share a phrase to express how disappointed or frustrated I am. There are instances when I forget what it means to be a servant-leader—even my friends told me they could relate to how I feel. Whenever their feelings are getting too much to handle, they spill it out through their social media accounts.

But does the world have to know everything about how we feel? What benefits will I get when I spill it all out? Will it bring me even more intimately closer to Christ or farther from Him? The most important question is: “How would Christ react to this?” If His emotions are too much for Him to understand, how would He attend to them? More so, He would definitely pray for them.

You might go on and tell me: “Well, during Christ’s era, they had no cellphones, no social media accounts, and no group chats.” Indeed, but what they had before were: gossips, sending letters of how crazy that person is, and ancient ways of spreading lies and deceit. Christ knew from the very start that Judas would betray Him, but He treated his apostle so nicely that none even expected during the long run that it was St. Jude. Christ was a famous and well-known healer—just like any other influencers we know online—but not once He ever exposed St. Peter that it is him who will deny Christ three times. How did He react? He stayed with them patiently, prayed for all of His apostles, and dwelled more in to God’s plan.

In this generation, it has been one of my greatest challenges to stay silent and reflective towards what I feel in every situation. Little did I know, it was only by this age when I learned that anything I let people know about me and my whereabouts are also something they may use against me. The best thing to do when I am mad? Pray. When I am too excited of next week’s event, reflect. When I feel so lost of what someone did to me, dwell in His goodness.

It is smart when we are stronger than our emotions. It is better to discern more than to immediately react. “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.” ~James 1:19-20. (Sophia Beatrice V. Sison | San Pablo Youth Apostolate)