(God's view ~)
Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. (Heb 13:4)
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools .... Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator ...Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. (Romans 1:20-27)
(What God expects of me ~)
"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matt 26:36-40)
How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Luke 6:42) You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. (Romans 14:10) Therefore judge nothing... wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's (and women's) hearts.
God is clear on His feelings and commands regarding the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman; on what He regards as immoral behavior, and His Truths stand the test of time. He is also equally clear that at the end of the proverbial day, it is His job and His only to judge our behavior, and each of us will be judged when we meet our Maker.
However, God also instituted governments for social order in the world. A just government is concerned with larger issues, the greater good and with individual action. A just government must act out of a higher moral standard and not what is the popular sentiment of the day. The U.S. government was based on Christian principles. (Read real history and not the revisionist stuff that is dished out in public classrooms.) Today's society chaffs against rules that are not relative and morals that are not situational, and stands ready to challenge, denigrate and disrespect the truths on which our Constitution is based.
God is our creator and He gets to write the rules for life. His greatest commandments regard love. We are all made in His image and He loves each of us dearly, despite our deeply flawed human nature. We are commanded to love and honor God. And in doing so we are commanded to love and honor His creations ~ which means all mankind. God does not place one sin above the other in rank. Therefore, my sin of pride is equally abhorrent in His eyes as is homosexuality. I am called not to judge my brother and sister but to love. And so I love others despite their behaviors, thoughts and feelings, and despite mine.
And so I love ~
1 comment:
Well said, really like this post. My attitude towards individuals suffering from all kinds of sin has done a 180 in the past couple of years. How are we to entice someone to know the love of our Jesus if as his followers we're uber judgey-judgey and turn our backs on other lost sheep? Yes, you can still love someone but not condone the sin they are engaging in. You're right about sin...we're ALL guilty of that!
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