There were two friends and one had good health. He was a sporty man, and he always tried to be a physically active person. His friend did not have good health and he used that as his excuse to be lazy. He did not like sports and although his friends always insisted that he should be physically active, he never changed his way of life. They would say: “it is good for your health: physical activity will make your health improve, it will reduce the risk of disease, it will strengthen your bones and muscles, etc.”.
The story of these two friends ends with the one who was physically active little by little increasing his chances of living longer, and the other one decreasing them. The first one was physically fit and kept himself that way, so little by little his body was ready for even greater efforts. The other one let himself go slack and even lost the abilities he once had; since, to anyone who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away (Lk 8:18).
Jesus’ words are a universal law. His words are true on a natural level, as shown by the example of the two friends, but also, they are true on a supernatural level. This means that everything we have on a supernatural level, grace, virtues, gifts of the Holy Spirit can either increase or decrease, depending on me.
Just as one cannot stand still in life, neither can one stand still in the supernatural life. That is to say, we must work on our spiritual life in order to make it grow, otherwise, whatever we have will be taken away. On the other hand, if we try to increase our spiritual life more will be given to us
