This week is the week that all the "lovebirds" come out to express and proclaim their love for one another with cards, flowers, candy and all the other stuff that goes along with it. Valentine's Day. Ugh...for us single people, it's what we call "singles reminder day." Last year, I preached about how much I can't stand the commercialization of love, etc., kind of like the commercialization of Christmas.
This year, I thought I'd take a moment to talk about the exact opposite of love: hate. We live in a world that is so full of hatred and strife, and I don't think anyone can argue that point. Every time you turn on the radio, television, look at the internet, we're bombarded with all the things that hate brings about. Husbands beating wifes, children killing parents, parents killing children, students beating and killing students, and so many other things that I don't want to dwell on. Our world is filled with people who hate one another for numerous reasons. The color of their skin, the religion they choose to follow, their sexual orientation, their gender, their height, their weight....it seems as though we almost look for things to hate and despise other people for.
The Bible tells us that hate is not of God, God is love! Does God hate sin, absolutely without any question, God hates sin. But the great thing about God is that He LOVES US in spite of our sin! That's love. God tells us that we're to love our neighbor as we love ourselves and in this day and age where we live in a world that tells us that the most important person around is good ole number one, if we loved each other the way we loved ourselves, the majority of our problems would be solved.
There are so many people "hating" in the name of the Lord and I want to encourage each of you to not let those people drive you away from God. That's not God speaking, that's some person running their mouth, that's all there is to it. No matter who you are, what you are, where you are, where you think you're going, what you've done, what you've said, GOD LOVES YOU! Many people teach us to hate other people for so many reasons. God tells us to love because love covers a mutlitude of sins.
The more I think about it, I'm afraid that some christians have become nothing more than a self proclaimed religious KKK. I know that statement will not set well with some, and I'm not saying that it is all of christianity, because I know it's not, but there are a lot of people who claim to be christians yet the message they proclaim doesn't line up with God's word. We as people, even christian people, take God's word and we try to manipulate it to suit what we think is right or wrong. I learned some time ago that it's not up to me to try and judge what's right or wrong, it's just up to me to keep on loving. Hate stirs up strife and many people wonder why there are so many problems in their churches, and why people aren't coming to church, maybe it's because they have enough hatred and strife going on in their life that they don't want to add to it by joining a church that has the same thing going on. The KKK did all they could to segregate people based on religion and race and it seems many church going christians are doing the same thing the KKK did. That's not of God and shame on any of us who fall into that category. The apostle Paul said "I become all things to all men that I might win some." He didn't do that by stirring up hatred and strife, he did it by showing the love of God.
This Valentine's Day, I think it'd be good for all of us, whether you claim to be religious or not, to love more than ever before. Love can solve so many indifferences. Love can solve so many disagreements. Love can solve so many hurts and pains. Let's be more like Jesus and love. Jesus came not to condemn the world, but to save the world from sin. Nails didn't hold Christ to the cross...yes, nails were used to inflict unimaginable pain on Him, but love is what held Him to that cross.
Instead of spending a bunch of money on temporary things that will be forgotten in a few days this Valentine's season, why not spread the love of God and that will out last any other gift you can give. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life."
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Friday, February 3, 2012
CLARIFICATION
Hey everyone, I just needed to make a quick note here about my last post that it has/had absolutely nothing to do with the terrible situation surrounding Baby Aria. I blogged about that because, number one, it's something I struggle with a great deal, but number two, I had a situation come up earlier in the week that caused someone to judge me about something they knew nothing about.
I would never ever minimize or try to defend the actions of any person/persons other than myself, if they were defendable. I believe that justice comes to us all, not always in an immediate way, but we all pay consequences for our actions and I believe that that is a part of life. When I make mistakes, I have to pay the consequences for those mistakes and live with the punishments.
It's unfortunate that in some situations, the things that we do effect so many other innocent people. I'm reminded of King David, when he committed adultery with Bathsheeba. He tried to lie his way out of the sin and it ended up costing another man his life, a child its life, and it was all because of David's actions. It's sad that people can do things that harm so many others, but I'm glad that there are laws in place to help protect the innocent and to serve justice to those who are guilty.
Again, I just really felt like I needed to clarify this and I apologize if anyone read something into it that wasn't there. My blog is just that, mine, and 99.9 percent of the things I blog about, such as the past post, are things that I'm going through at the time and hope that I can give an insight for other people who might be facing the same thing.
My thoughts and prayers are with Baby Aria, and I thank God for the miracle He has given her, and all of her family.
I would never ever minimize or try to defend the actions of any person/persons other than myself, if they were defendable. I believe that justice comes to us all, not always in an immediate way, but we all pay consequences for our actions and I believe that that is a part of life. When I make mistakes, I have to pay the consequences for those mistakes and live with the punishments.
It's unfortunate that in some situations, the things that we do effect so many other innocent people. I'm reminded of King David, when he committed adultery with Bathsheeba. He tried to lie his way out of the sin and it ended up costing another man his life, a child its life, and it was all because of David's actions. It's sad that people can do things that harm so many others, but I'm glad that there are laws in place to help protect the innocent and to serve justice to those who are guilty.
Again, I just really felt like I needed to clarify this and I apologize if anyone read something into it that wasn't there. My blog is just that, mine, and 99.9 percent of the things I blog about, such as the past post, are things that I'm going through at the time and hope that I can give an insight for other people who might be facing the same thing.
My thoughts and prayers are with Baby Aria, and I thank God for the miracle He has given her, and all of her family.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Judgement
I wasn't sure what to even title this one, but, I guess that's really pretty immaterial. One of the hardest things about being a human is our desire of wanting to judge others. We're all guilty of it, no matter how hard we've tried not to be judgemental, at some point in life, we've all done it. We judge people based on race, religion, sexual orientation, previous history, rumors and so many other things. It's unfortunate that we do it, because it usually ends up causing damage to everyone involved.
It's hard for me to think that I've been guilty of judging people based on things I've heard, things I've seen, and many other reasons that still do not justify judging. The reason that I find it so hard that I'm guilty of it, is not because I think I'm any better than anyone, not that I think that I'm so sort of "holier than thou" christian, but because I know I've been unjustly judged by people and it hurts. People have judged me based on things that other people have said, things they've overheard, even judged me simply because of a miscommunication or misunderstanding.
That's made me become more sensitive to me trying to judge people. I have a lot of areas in my life that need work, and I know that. If people were to judge me based on the things I need to work on, they'd probably think that I wasn't much of a christian at all, because people judge based only on outward appearance. I've learned that things aren't always as they seem and until I have all the facts about a situation, a person, the best thing for me to do is to keep my mouth closed, which isn't always easy. I have a friend who has a quote on her refrigerator that I keep in the front of my mind every moment, "Lord, put your arm on my shoulder and your hand over my mouth!" That is so true. When we begin to talk about things that we don't know about or we begin to spread rumors and gossip that we've hurt, we're intensifying and multiplying what is probably a bad situation to begin with and that doesn't do anyone any good.
The other thing I've learned about casting judgement on others is that when I'm wrong, wow, it's a hard thing to do to have to go to someone and apologize for your words and/or actions. That's sometimes a tough pill to swallow. That's been something else that has helped me become less judgemental. I've found that one of the best things I can do is to pray for that person and that situation, that helps more than anything.
I understand that sometimes our judgement comes out of anger, disappointment, and many times just total misunderstanding and again, we've all been guilty of that. But I want to challenge all of us to be more like Christ and to remember that even though things seem a certain way, our vision isn't always perfect. He encouraged us to pray one for another, even when a brother or sister is in sin. While we don't condone sin, we pray for that person and ask God to help them, while remembering that if we're judging that person, we're committing sin in that act alone.
Let's be encouragers, workers together, and let's make sure that we don't judge people based on rumors, partial facts, he said she said deals, let's allow all those things to unfold on their own and pray for each other.
It's hard for me to think that I've been guilty of judging people based on things I've heard, things I've seen, and many other reasons that still do not justify judging. The reason that I find it so hard that I'm guilty of it, is not because I think I'm any better than anyone, not that I think that I'm so sort of "holier than thou" christian, but because I know I've been unjustly judged by people and it hurts. People have judged me based on things that other people have said, things they've overheard, even judged me simply because of a miscommunication or misunderstanding.
That's made me become more sensitive to me trying to judge people. I have a lot of areas in my life that need work, and I know that. If people were to judge me based on the things I need to work on, they'd probably think that I wasn't much of a christian at all, because people judge based only on outward appearance. I've learned that things aren't always as they seem and until I have all the facts about a situation, a person, the best thing for me to do is to keep my mouth closed, which isn't always easy. I have a friend who has a quote on her refrigerator that I keep in the front of my mind every moment, "Lord, put your arm on my shoulder and your hand over my mouth!" That is so true. When we begin to talk about things that we don't know about or we begin to spread rumors and gossip that we've hurt, we're intensifying and multiplying what is probably a bad situation to begin with and that doesn't do anyone any good.
The other thing I've learned about casting judgement on others is that when I'm wrong, wow, it's a hard thing to do to have to go to someone and apologize for your words and/or actions. That's sometimes a tough pill to swallow. That's been something else that has helped me become less judgemental. I've found that one of the best things I can do is to pray for that person and that situation, that helps more than anything.
I understand that sometimes our judgement comes out of anger, disappointment, and many times just total misunderstanding and again, we've all been guilty of that. But I want to challenge all of us to be more like Christ and to remember that even though things seem a certain way, our vision isn't always perfect. He encouraged us to pray one for another, even when a brother or sister is in sin. While we don't condone sin, we pray for that person and ask God to help them, while remembering that if we're judging that person, we're committing sin in that act alone.
Let's be encouragers, workers together, and let's make sure that we don't judge people based on rumors, partial facts, he said she said deals, let's allow all those things to unfold on their own and pray for each other.
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