By Anna Von Reitz
It’s not our role to judge or be mean to anyone.
At the same time, the Bible gives definite instructions about morality and immorality, what pleases our Creator, and what doesn’t.
Loving the sinner doesn’t include loving the sin.
We have to be sentient enough and discerning enough to know that “line in the sand” exists. We owe it to others to share this information.
And still know our limitations.
So when Christians welcome Sinners — we accept everyone in “as is” condition and we accept, too, that it is not our job to judge or change them.
In truth, we know we can’t judge or change them. That is work they have to undertake for themselves, with help from above our pay grade.
At most we can hope to engage them in the same effort and process we undergo ourselves as we view our actions in the light of the scriptures and the teachings we have received.
When I was a small child, I didn’t know it was wrong to steal.
And once it was brought to my attention that stealing was not a good thing, I have had many years to contemplate all the reasons why, and thereby train myself to grow in strength and moral conviction that yes, stealing is wrong, and it isn’t just because my Mother or Father said so.
It isn’t even because God said so.
It’s because some things are innately wrong, or unfair or destructive to others or even destructive to Nature itself. It’s because by abstaining from these evils we are protected from them— and we protect others from them, too.
This winter I came to the local grocery store at dusk, and there was a woman’s purse just sitting in an empty cart, nobody around.
So I rolled the cart inside and took the purse to the store customer service desk. The manager opened the purse in front of me and several employees looking for the name and address of the owner.
As we were all standing there an elderly woman came puffing up to us, red-faced and near tears. We all saw the look of utter relief spread across her face.
No big deal. It happens everyday. Someone does the right thing, because they know what “good” is and they want more of that in the world.
Seeing that the mystery was solved, I immediately turned away and went on about my business—- but the Purse Lady tracked me down in the juice and beverage aisle to thank me.
It wasn’t necessary.
I am used to the fact that not all blessings are mine. I smiled at her.
I smiled at Pope Francis, too, trying to explain the Christian Paradox.
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A good level headed analysis. I liked the reality check statement:
ReplyDelete"At most we can hope to engage them in the same effort and process we undergo ourselves as we view our actions in the light of the scriptures and the teachings we have received."
We change our hearts and "receive" the Word of God because His Word - when read searchingly for the truth - always convinces us, even "convicts" us, or our failures to live up to that pure Word of truth, and so convinces us of our utter unworthiness of thought and conduct in comparison to God's lofty perspectives of what is good and right in His truths to think and to do.
From our conviction comes the realization of our personal need to repent, to cast off pride and stubbornness, and to become humble and teachable, and to seek to become reborn in living in "the spirit of truth" and henceforth to strive to cast off our all our uncleanness by accepting Jesus Christ's atonement for our sins and to take up the cross of obedience in discipleship to our Lord Jesus Christ, from that time on to the end of our mortality. Then we may have hope of a better world to come in the next life.
If no such process occurs in mortality the road to redemption still awaits those who did not receive opportunity to receive God's word while in mortality, but the learning process there is not as easy as our bodies and the challenges of mortality give us an advantage to learn and to bring us to humbling circumstances helping us cast off our pride.
In the spirit world we may not have that advantage of mortal trials with a temporal body given its frailties to bring us to humility and so we may go on in stubborn willfulness and refuse to become humble and teachable in the next life, leading to eternal difficulties in reconciling our will with God's, and therefore ongoing estrangement with things spiritual and godly. That describes misery. Today is the day to repent and prepare to meet God.
Very well stated "joel". Thanks.
DeleteIt took approximately 6 years for tis man to say that same sex marriage is a sin?
ReplyDeleteThis man that is considered " infallible" ?
we are and can judge right from wrong!
Do i know the outcome or can i judge a persons soul and condemn them or reward them to everlasting life? No.
But we are to know sin, we are to recognize and speak up about and of such things. We are to call out false and misleading teachings and teachers when necessary!
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, which advocates for greater acceptance of gays in the church, predicted the Vatican position would be ignored, including by some Catholic clergy.
ReplyDelete“Catholic people recognize the holiness of the love between committed same-sex couples and recognize this love as divinely inspired and divinely supported and thus meets the standard to be blessed,” he said in a statement.
https://apnews.com/article/vatican-decree-same-sex-unions-cannot-bless-sin-077944750c975313ad253328e4cf7443
2015 was a pivot point for this Nation! What happened here in our "supreme court was a slap in the face to the Creator!
" The One True church?" Have you ever seen such a divided house?
Yeh i know, this is not the True catholic church!
Could it be that all churches are on the wrong track? They should be a beginning point only and at best. We must seek Him for ourselves as guided by Him.
The True church should be within each and every one of us, through His Son, we can have the Son and the Father! This is the Truth we begin to receive as the veil starts rising.
THAT wasnt "our Supreme Court" ,, I is in the final anaylasis not Americas court but the court of the criminal racketeering enterprize known as .. "the United States of America" and not the Supreme Court "The United States of America" it pretends to be,..
DeleteLets look closely at the words. If one wants to breach a well fenced area
ReplyDelete,the first thing to do is de- fence it.
Tear the fence down. Defense = no fense
De-fendant = not abel to fend off the parasites. Look at the word deceased .
De means not like decontaminate" not contaminated . So De-Ceased = not ceased at long last . Found dead at long last and laid to rest. Many othe words are examples of this can be located in legal dictionarys.