Judging For Yourself

Judge not lest ye be judged also. How many times have you heard this or even said it yourself?   It seems that Matthew 7:1 is being taken out of context more and more.  Everyone knows this verse, it seems, and will quote it to make their point whether they believe the Bible or not.  People seem to think it means we aren't supposed to think for ourselves or disagree with anyone else. Of course by saying this a person often implies that it's perfectly acceptable for the them to judge the person they are quoting it to.  How ironic, since it's context is about being hypocritical.   It's about seeing our own faults for what they are before we fault someone else.  It's about making sure that we are dealing with our issues.  We must not ignore our problems while putting our neighbor's under the microscope.  Perhaps it's time our society learns the difference between using good judgement and being judgmental. 

It is possible to use discernment without condemning, and one does not have to condone a persons actions in order to love them as I have often heard folks insinuate.  I will explain a couple of rather ordinary way this applies to me.  I do not mean to offend anyone.  Hopefully these examples are not too controversial.  Discernment leads me to disapprove of smoking cigarettes, and therefore I do not engage in this behavior or encourage it, but I still love people who do it.  If I could help a person quit I would, but I don't have the right to condemn them.  Please understand though, I may have to keep my distance at certain times because of the second hand smoke.  I also do not approve of dirty jokes. It's not that I don't love a person who tells them, but I may not be able to spend a lot of time with that person because my mind is too easily drug into the gutter.  There is a long list of things, some specifically spelled out in the Bible and others that are not mentioned, that this concept can be applied to.  We should learn to discern what is right and wrong and live by our beliefs, but knowing the correct  criteria for establishing this discernment is crucial.

Judgement to condemn or pardon is the right of God alone and given to no man.  Only He is perfect, and only He is able to judge righteously.  He would be completely justified in punishing all of us, but He is gracious and paid for our ransom with the blood of His own Son.  The cost had to be covered.  Jesus paid this price willingly in obedience to His Father and out of compassion for us.  He is love, and therefore He acted lovingly toward us, giving up the opportunity to give us the  penalty we deserve, and giving us gifts we do not deserve instead.  

 Judgement that discerns is a gift from God that should be exercised continually by all of His children. We would all do well to learn discernment.  Understanding that an action is wrong and avoiding the temptation to do it is wise, as is knowing what is right and proceeding to carry that out.  We live in a world that is trying to blur the line between right and wrong.  There is a double standard that says, "everyone should have the right to do as they please, as long as it doesn't affect my special interest."  There are those who would defend a persons choice to have an abortion, but would punish them for leaving their dog in the car while they run into the grocery store.  There are others who would condemn the person who had an abortion and yet would abuse their own child.  To use a more commonplace example, there are those who would criticize someone for smoking cigarettes while over indulging in unhealthy doughnuts themselves.  We are inconsistent.  There is only one way to eliminate this type of contradiction, and that is to acknowledge the line where God drew it.  As humans we are unable to establish a system without contradiction because we all have a conflict within us.  Eventually we will find that we want two different things that cannot exist together.  Our only hope for justice is surrender to God's will.

The following words are part of a song by Casting Crowns, "I'm not pointing my finger, I'm holding out my hand."  The song is called "Love You With The Truth,"  and it's about loving people and inviting them to meet Jesus just as they are.  He accepts us with all our flaws and failures.  Jesus gave His life so that everyone could be delivered from their destructive lifestyle, and all of us are born self-destructing in one way or another.  Those of us who have been freed from our bondage should be eager to share with others how they too can be released from their chains.  Sometimes it seems we are more interested in pointing out the shackles a person wearing than we are in shining a light on the key.  Jesus told the Pharisees, as recorded in Mark 2:17, that it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.  He told them He didn't come to call the righteous; He came to call the sinner.  The truth is:  none of us is righteous.   We are all sick or in a state of recovery.  The question is:  Are we willing to admit it and ask the Great Physcian for the cure?

So Close And Yet So Far Away

Have you ever tried to climb into a book and physically interact with the characters on the page?  Of course you haven't.  That would be silly.   Have you ever mentally involved yourself in a story and imagined you were interacting with the characters?  I am sure I have, if not consciously then sub consciously.  Some people like to read choose your own adventure books.  The ending of the story is already written with several different outcomes, but the reader controls which way they go.  Others like to begin with a blank page and write their own story, create their own characters, and design their own plots.  That is the way to really be a part of the story.  A story doesn't write itself; it has to have an author.

Though many don't want to acknowledge it, God is the author of the universe.  His story is a little different.  He designed the characters specifically to be able to interact with Him. He gave them a mind of their own.  He allows them to go where they may and do as they will within the world He created for them.  Though the characters may do what they will, He has defined what is right and wrong.  This is a place where so many people seem to be confused.  They think that because they have a mind of their own that they can define right and wrong for themselves, but what God calls wrong is wrong even if it seems right to one of His characters.  

Part of the author's plot design is to redeem His characters who go astray, and they all go astray at some point as they make their own choices.  They were born with the inclination to do so because their parents did and so did their grandparents.  The inborn inclination to act against what the author defined as right goes all the way back to the first two people that He created with a mind of their own.  When they chose to try to define their own right and wrong they went contrary to the author and have passed down that characteristic of defiance to all generations.  God, however, would not walk away and allow His characters all to self destruct, instead He stepped into the story and made His Son one of the characters.  His Son had a mind of His own, but He diligently chose to always be true to His divine nature rather than succumbing to the nature of the character from whom he was descended in the story.  He showed the other characters what it looks like to follow the author's definition of doing what is right without straying, and He sacrificed his life to pay for all the wrong choices of every other man, woman, boy and girl in the story who would trust in Him.  After the price for sin was paid by the shedding of His life blood, He rose victorious on the third day!   

So many people are so close and yet so far away from the truth.  They want everyone to be accepted, but on their own merit, and for their choices rather than in spite of them.  Instead of admitting that God's definition of right and wrong is true and believing we can be forgiven for doing wrong, they want to make a new standard of right and wrong.  God wants to accept everyone, but He only does that based on the perfectly lived life, sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection of His Son.  He will not accept us for our wrong choices, but He will accept us in spite of them because of Jesus.  The place so many get stuck is that they refuse to admit that they have failed to uphold God's standard of right and wrong and therefore they don't ask to be forgiven for their wrong based on the merit of His Son.  

Rather than reaching out to the author and asking Him to intervene in their part of they story gone awry, some people are now calling out to the story itself and the setting they've been placed in.  They will ask the universe to guide them or provide for them, but the universe has no power.  Only The Creator of the universe has the power to help them.  He made it possible for the wayward characters He created to come to Him through His Son.  Jesus left The Author's side and stepped into the storybook to provide salvation and a connection to God despite our condition.  With salvation He provides new character for His characters.  He gives them the Holy Spirit to help them see things His way so that they can overcome that inherited inclination to make up their own definitions that conflict with His Truth.  

A person does not ask an oven for a loaf of bread, they ask the baker.  One wouldn't get far by asking a ship to take them across the ocean, they must ask the captain.  When a person realizes that they need help they had better ask The Creator, not the creation.  Imagine for a minute if the baker relabeled all of his ingredients.  What if he called the salt sugar, the sugar flour and the flour salt?  Try to bake a cake  with those substitutions.  It's not going to be a cake.  Salt is salt and sugar is sugar, just like wrong is wrong and right is right.  You can't change what it is just by changing the label.  If you substitute wrong for right the recipe is going to fail.  

My prayer is for people to turn to Jesus "the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)  Lord, please use these words to minister to someone today.  There are so many in the world who are confused because they haven't met Your Son.  Maybe they have heard of Him, but He is still a great mystery to them.  Please open the eyes of someone today so that they can see Jesus.  In His precious, awesome and glorious name I make this request.  Amen.  

"Delight yourself in The Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Who Cares?

The things I think about when I am out running sound so right in my head, but trying to remember them and get them down in writing can be a challenge.  The other day while I was running, and praying, and contemplating, I was thinking about a friend who recently denied the existence of God. While I find it hard to comprehend that someone could stop believing in God, without saving faith in Christ they are lost whether they believe God exists or not.  James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that - and shudder."   James is making a case that true faith manifests itself in action, believing there is a God is not enough. Trusting in Christ as the one who paid the penalty for your sin and asking Him to clean your heart opens the door to the Holy Spirit in your life, and the Holy Spirit teaches you to act on your faith.  Jesus won't barge into your life, instead He waits for you to welcome Him in.  I would rather have an honest discussion with someone who is having doubts than to assume that they have trusted in Christ just because they say they believe God exists. 

So, what does it matter if you believe in God or not?  Who cares?  If you believe that there is a God who  created everything but then just left it all to self destruct, it doesn't make much difference.  However, if you believe in the God of forgiveness and love who sent His own Son to die in your place, then it makes ALL the difference.  Jesus endured being beaten nearly to death, having nails driven into His hands, wearing a crown of thorns, and suffocation on the cross because we deserved it.  It was painful and he suffered like we cannot imagine, but I don't think the physical pain was His greatest agony.  He is God the Son.  Sin is against the very nature of God, and God is immortal.  The reason He could die is that He clothed Himself in a human body for our sake and accepted the guilt for all of our sin.  It was sin that killed Him.  It was the sin that you and I and every other human being possess in our nature and have willfully committed.  He gave up His life for each one of those wrongs to save us. 

So, who cares?  God does!  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit care.  Jesus cares enough to bear our sin.  The awesome news is that because He wasn't the one who committed sin, death couldn't contain Him.  He overcame death.  Those who truly believe on Him as their Savior from sin are pardoned.  That pardon comes with a guarantee which is the Holy Spirit coming to live within them.  The Holy Spirit guides and guards a person marking them for eternal life with God in heaven.  Once a person has received the Holy Spirit they cannot turn back, and it will be evident by the way they live.  Too many people are tricked into thinking that believing in God's existence is enough, but they must receive forgiveness through His Son Jesus to be saved.  Remember, even the demons believe in the existence of God.  The first step to receiving forgiveness is coming to terms with your status as a sinner.  The second is believing that Jesus paid the price and admitting that only He can save you. 

If you believe He exists, why not ask for forgiveness from your sin because Jesus acted as your substitute and endured your punishment though He Himself never disobeyed God or rebelled in any way?  If you don't believe in God, you can't believe in His Son, but maybe you are denying His existence because you don't understand how much He loves you.  Maybe you have experienced hurt in your life, and you would rather ignore God because you don't understand how He could have let it happen.  Remember that the hurt was caused by a person's sin. God gave people the freedom to chose His way or their own.  The hurt comes when people choose to do things their own way instead of God's.  He doesn't desire us to chose that course, but He does allow it.  He didn't make us to be puppets with no choice, and since people chose to go their own way they can hurt themselves and others.  Even illness, which is often is NOT a direct result of an individual's specific sin, came into the world due to the presence of sin and we are now susceptible to it. That is the way of things here on earth.  Because God cares, though, He provided a way for us to be forgiven for choices that cause pain, to grow to be more like Jesus, and to be eternally healed. 

Someday those who have received forgiveness through Jesus will live where "He will wipe every tear from their eyes," and "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain."  (Revelation 21:4)  How can those things be absent in heaven?  Sin causes those things.  There is no sin there because only the forgiven may enter, and God promises to make them perfect before they do.  "Listen, I tell you a mystery:  We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."  (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)  "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  Then we will be with the Lord forever."  (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)  God wants us to be with Him forever.  He made a way for us.  He cares!

*Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.

Happy Harmonizing

I love to sing. It's one of my favorite things to do, but it's often more fun when there are others to sing with.  The sound of many voices singing together in unison is very nice, but harmonies are one of my favorite aspects of music.  Blending notes in such a way to create depth and emotion in a song is very powerful.  Not everyone is able to pick out a harmony part and sing it alone.  It is something that is learned through much practice, by following someone else who has more experience, or it's a rare gift.  Whether harmony is created by rote or intuition, whether it is practiced or improvised, it is well worth the effort to produce.

When two people sing in harmony, they are not singing the same note.  Normally there is a more dominate part, the melody, and the harmony is added by producing notes above or below it that intentionally blend well and compliment it.  Sometimes, though, harmonies blend so well that it is difficult to distinguish a melody, you just hear the whole chord.  Occasionally one of my children will be singing a song and another will join in, but the key is not comfortable for the second child.  Instead of singing a harmony, sometimes they will begin to sing the melody in a different key causing discord, confusion and conflict.  If they would be willing to take the trouble of finding a harmony they could sing in a comfortable range while adding a pleasing new dimension to the song.  

Unfortunately many people live like the second child in this example.  If something isn't going their way they try to dominate the situation and do things the way they want them done, regardless of how it conflicts with those around them.  They throw the song that was being sung into chaos in an attempt to have things their way.  They cause conflict and discord, and rather than contributing to the beauty of the song they discourage the rest of the singers.  The better option would be to figure out how they can fit into the song in a way that blends?

What can be done when someone tries to dominate off key literally or metaphorically speaking?  When you are in close proximity to them it becomes tempting to stop singing altogether.  When the people involved are brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important for them to remember that their Father is conducting the symphony.  He has a part for each voice in the choir as well as each instrument in the orchestra, and He is the master composer. Each person will play an integral part in the performance of His work.  Sometimes it will be a lead and at other times it will be supporting. There are even measures of rest which often transition into something new.  Whatever the part is, it is crucial that each member of the ensemble take their directions from the conductor and keep their instrument in tune.  

Sometimes brothers and sisters have a fight for dominance that causes awful discord.  They forget that God is the conductor and also the composer of the song.  He is writing a beautiful piece, and all we need to do is play the part He has chosen for us.  We are not the writers.  We can't take our eyes off of Him.  If we are too concerned with someone else's part we are going to make mistakes with the one He has given us.  We need to listen to what those around us are playing and blend our parts together, all the while following the conductor.  We need to keep our eyes on Him and let Him lead. Sometimes He will have us right up front on the melody, other times He will move us more to the background on a harmony, and there will be times when He gives us measures of rests.  That doesn't mean we have been removed from the song; it's just our time to take a few deep breaths and prepare to come in harmonizing well with those around us in a beautiful song.  

The Shut Down Switch

Have you ever had a disagreement with a child?  They get frustrated because they can't change your mind and make you give them what they want. What is a common go to phrase?  "You hate me!" Why will a child say this, particularly to their parents?  I think it is because they know that it is untrue.  They know that parent loves them and that the accusation will hurt them.  It's one last attempt to manipulate the situation by challenging them, and it means, "I don't want to hear what you have to say."  It's an ultimatum, "agree with me or I won't believe that you love me."  It's a kill switch meant to to shut down the conversation as quickly as possible no matter what damage may occur.  Love protects, however, even when being threatened or resisted.   Love doesn't stand idly by and watch as someone heads for danger.  It doesn't refuse to get involved because someone might reject it.  It springs into action and strives to prevent injury.

Love can be hard work, and loving someone enough to correct, or even just disagree with them can hurt.  Let's look at  another example dealing with children.  Most people would not fault someone for telling a child not to play near a busy road, but if there is something near that road the child wants to play with or on, perhaps the mailbox that looks like a tractor, the child is probably going to protest.  They can't see beyond what they want to the danger it presents.  The child may have several reasons why they think playing near the road is acceptable, but that doesn't make it a good decision.  I have heard it said that hate is not the opposite of love, indifference is.  I don't know if I completely agree with that, but let's see how it plays out for a child in a dangerous situation. Hate and indifference may sometimes have the same result.

Seven year old Suzy is in the backyard and decides to build a village out of sticks.  It's a good creative way to play, the problem is that she chooses to do it on the railroad tracks.  The rails offer extra support for her structures, and she is delighted with her idea.  The next door neighbor sees what she is doing and thinks, "she's gonna get hurt, I can't stand that annoying brat anyway."  That would be hate.  The guy cutting the grass in the neighbors yard sees her and thinks, "that doesn't seem like a good idea, but it's not my problem."  That's indifference.  Her mother has been keeping an eye on her from the kitchen window, giving Suzy freedom to explore within the established boundaries.  Her mother looks up from the kitchen sink where she has been washing the dishes.  She doesn't think; she acts.  As soon as she realizes where Suzy has gone, she drops the plate in her hand and runs to the tracks to remove her daughter from the danger.  She explains the rules about her boundaries once again.  Suzy screams, "you hate me!" as the train comes and crushes her sticks, but she is safe.  Her mom and dad buy supplies that evening to come build a fence around their yard, and Suzy temporarily loses some freedom.  She may not play outside unless her mother can be out with her.  That is love.  

Love cares when a person is headed for destruction.  Love acts to rescue the one who's gone astray. The greatest love that has ever been expressed was when Jesus gave His life to save ours.  "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8.  If we who know the good news, that anyone can be saved by believing in Christ, sit back and refuse to share it, then we are not showing love.  We can't say we love someone but it's not in our place to interfere. Love protects.  We can't let our fear of rejection stop us from sending out the lifeline.  When we point out the dangers of living without Jesus, some will say, "you hate me," but that doesn't make it true.  Act in love anyway.  Those words are meant to hurt because they challenge the love that is known to exist.  They are a tool that the devil will try to use to discourage you from speaking the truth of Jesus' love into someone's life.  "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."  Romans 12:21

*Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.

Ahead of the Rest

This year in Released Time Class there was a kindergarten boy who never seemed to want to listen, always wanted to talk, always wanted to be first in line and refused to hold the door for others.  It was my practice to ask the first child in line to hold the door so that I could stay in the front to guide the class and make sure they didn't run ahead and get lost in the crowd.  This boy would always appear at the front of the line, much to the dismay of others who said he had cut in front of them, but when asked to hold the door he would stubbornly decline.  As I caught on to this I felt the Spirit leading me to use it as a teaching opportunity.  

After the boy would reject the request, I would ask the next child in line to hold the door.  When all the children were through I would call the "door holder," who was now at the end of the line, to come to the very front ahead of the initial student.  Of course this didn't seem fair to the boy who wanted to be first.  I tried, as we walked from the school to the church, to convey the message that Jesus taught in Matthew 19:30 and 20:16, that in the kingdom of heaven the last will be first and the first will be last.  Whether he understood the sermonette or not, after several weeks of being sent back in line he finally decided to hold the door and was invited back to the front when he was finished.  Actually, he soon refused to let others have a turn holding the door and we had to begin a new lesson.  

It can be disheartening how many adult Christians, especially in the United States, want to be first in line but don't want to hold the door for others.  Jesus' disciples had the same attitude at one time.  Luke records in chapter 22 verses 24-27 "A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest.  Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.  For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves."   Jesus explained to them that the way to be great in the kingdom of God is to humble one's self and be a servant.  So, why do so many strive to be in control giving orders, or sit back and watch while others serve them?

The disciples had not yet received the Holy Spirit when they had this issue of striving for position, though they did have the first hand example of Jesus, the Living Word of God.  Today born again Christians have the indwelling Holy Spirit to guide them, and they have the example of Christ in the Written Word of God.  If each person would do their part and serve in the ways they are called to, while allowing others the same privilege and freedom, the church would be a wonderful place where everyone wants to be.  Unfortunately, too many people seem to be "supervising:" telling everyone else how to do their job, and complaining about what they perceive as doing it the wrong way.  They should be rolling up their sleeves, focusing on their task and encouraging others along the way.  

I believe the key to a healthy church is to stay focused on Christ and follow His example.  It is not about creating and managing programs.  It is not about evaluating the ways that others are serving and trying to help them do it "right."  It's about letting the Spirit of God flow through us to serve those around us whether they be brothers or strangers.  It's about trusting God to orchestrate the body the way He designed it, and allowing individuals to be individuals not robots forced into a man made mold. It's about loving and accepting one another as Christ loves and accepts each of us.  It's also about accepting our place in the body and functioning contentedly in our role.  "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."...  "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?"  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body."...  "But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other."  1 Corinthians 12:7,17-20 and 24-25

What can be done to make the body healthy?  What power do I have to change anything?  We all have the same resources.  As children of God we have the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of prayer.    Enabled by the Spirit, we can chose, as individuals, to be examples of Christlike service, and we can pray for each member of the body to function as it should according to God's design and purpose.  Only God can work in each heart to change our focus and transform us.  He can change our attitudes from entitlement to encouragement, our words from complaint to compliment, and our actions from supervisor to servant.  Only Christ can unify us and make us what He gave His life for us to become.  Only through the Holy Spirit living in us can we put aside our personal preferences and grow together in harmony. Will you pray for the church, the family of God?  Will you strive to live as an example to others of what a true servant of Jesus is?  By the power of Christ in me, I will.  

The Christian life is not a competition between individuals.  We were each created uniquely.  We should strive for our personal best and rejoice with others in their achievements.  This is a team effort where every player has the opportunity to use their specific strengths and gifts for corporate victory, and where each person should be fully committed to Jesus.  Let's cheer each other on and serve one another lest anyone grow weary along the way.  "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."  (Hebrews 10:24-25)

*Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.

That Shoe Doesn't Fit

Once again I came across a post on Facebook that I felt compelled to respond to.  I began writing a comment which turned into a paragraph, and soon decided that it was better to blog it than to fill my friends wall with a long comment that would probably not be appreciated in that context.  Maybe she will read my view here and take it into consideration. If I give her the link she can decide whether or not to click it.  I thank you for reading, and ask that you will carefully try to discern what I really mean to say.  It is interesting that the same topic keeps coming up, but I truly feel bombarded with messages like the one below.  I'll be honest with you:  I don't even know who this guy is, but I see his words and they reveal something.

You can click this to enlarge it and read what I am responding to.

Honestly, this quote sounds like the angry rage of intolerance to me. While fear can be the result of a belief, accusing others of fear because of their moral beliefs seems illogical.  While a person may fear the dark because they believe that something they can't see will attack them, they don't necessarily believe that night is wrong. We don't automatically assume that those who are afraid of heights are morally opposed to tall buildings, airplanes or mountains. If someone is opposed buildings of great height, would you conclude without question that it is because they suffer from acrophobia?  If I have a phobia, based on the reasoning of Henry Rollins, it's of immorality and it's consequences, I'm not just a homophobe. My fear is of the price the unrepentant heart will pay without accepting The Savior.  "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and "the payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord."  (Romans 3:23 and 6:23).  We are all as guilty of sin as a thief or a murderer because all sin no matter how big or small is still sin which separates us from God.   

I am making a proclamation of freedom from sin!  I want everyone to know that they have that right.  I don't hide behind the Bible, I do my best to live by it.  I take what it says to heart even when I am convicted for losing my temper, being unkind or grumpy, being lazy, or the many other ways I mess up from day to day.  Don't think that I don't consider those things serious, they are, and I struggle with them.  Sanctification* is a process, but it only begins when we admit that we need God's forgiveness through His Son, Jesus.  If we keep telling ourselves we aren't so bad, we won't be saved because we don't think we need God's mercy.  I know I am a sinner saved by grace. 

More and more I feel like people are randomly pointing their proverbial finger in my face, and the faces of others who share my beliefs and values, but they really don't know what I truly stand for.  They are firing shots into a crowd of strangers.  I try to avoid randomly spewing out judgemental, stereotypical comments, so it stings when I feel like I'm dodging bullets.  Hate and anger aren't going to take us anywhere we want to be.  Positive change begins with love.  You don't have to agree with someone to love them, nor do you have to allow them to force their choices on you.  The choice I wish everyone would make, to accept God's forgiveness through Jesus, is one that can never be forced.  It has to be the real and authentic decision of each individual.

I do understand that there are people on both sides who are very verbal about their opinions on certain issues.  Folks get defensive and the mud flies back and forth.  I don't want to be about an issue, I want to be about Jesus and His offer of forgiveness to anyone who believes.  No one can turn from sin on their own, but if they accept that He died in their place, they will want to let Him help them.  Maybe if I keep telling people there is forgiveness available, they will be able to admit that they've done wrong and receive it.  My message is forgiveness.  Will you believe in Jesus and accept it?

*Sanctification is being made holy.  When we trust in Jesus Christ we are pardoned from all of our sins immediately, and we begin to gradually change as we fight against the sin in our lives.  Someday the transformation will be complete.  1 John 3:2 says, "Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."