No TBT this week. I've got something burdening my heart big time and it's much more important than a story of me getting my face shoved in a bowl of ramen or whatever. Ready for this? Westboro Baptist Church. This blog is about being real, so I'm gonna be real with you guys. They piss me off. I don't get legitimately mad easily - I can get upset or frustrated, but mad is a whole different story. They infuriate me to the point of tears. Here's basically my reaction when I heard about them and what they do : 1) I was appalled 2) I wanted to wop them one good 3) I wanted to demand how they could do & say such things in God's name. Then I stopped and realized something . . . I was pretty much doing the same thing they are. Now, I've never picketed a funeral, I've never prayed for the death of soldiers, and I've never waved around signs that read "God hates you". Nor will I ever. But here's the thing : I was reacting out of hatred. I HATE what they're doing. Hate it. But when I start hating them for what they're doing & saying, how does my heart differ from theirs? I am in NO way condoning what they're doing. Cause let's be real, it's wrong, and it needs to stop. Like, NOW. But how hypocritical is it to sit here and hate someone because of their hatred? I asked God to calm my heart down so I could be level-headed once more, and as soon as He did I realized something else. My initial reaction was anger & hate (because I hate what they're doing), but when it comes down to it, my heart breaks for them. They're doing what they're doing because they legitimately believe those things. They believe that God is full of hate, and hates gays, and soldiers, and South Dakota, and the United States. They believe that what they're doing is glorifying to God. And from what I can tell, they believe that they are righteous because of their actions. It kills me that so many people believe these lies. It kills me that so many people are spreading those lies, and spinning them off as truth. And it absolutely kills me that they've twisted around God's Word. In a nutshell, here's the theme of the bible : Love. God's love, to be more specific. God's love for us. Everyone. If you can read the bible and only take away hatred from it, you're doing it wrong. "8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners." - Romans 5:8 Let's get something straight right now, y'all : God said He is against the act of homosexuality because it goes against how He created us. THAT DOES NOT MEAN HE HATES HOMOSEXUALS. Gosh dang it, I'm so freaking tired of that lie! Also, for a brief moment let's talk about how He's also against the acts of stealing, and lying, and idolatry, and murder, etc. God knows we're broken, He knows we're sinners, He knows we mess up constantly, He knows we're not perfect - myself included all the way. God is God. He knows EVERYTHING. And yet, here's the kicker : HE STILL LOVES US. Despite the fact that we fail Him every single day - non-Christians and Christians alike - He still loves us. He may not like the crap loads of stuff that we do, but He still loves us. I wanna set something straight for people. Those who truly follow Christ don't do so because they're "perfect", or even think that they're perfect. Those who truly follow and seek Christ do so because they acknowledge that they're not perfect and they need Him. We don't seek to obey Him because of condemnation or because we feel we have no choice. God gave everyone free will. He's not a ninny about it. We seek to obey Him because of who He is; all that's He's done for us. We seek and follow Him out of love. We worship Him because of His amazing love & grace that He's poured out on us. He doesn't pour out that love & grace because we're "perfect". If we were perfect, we wouldn't need His love & grace. He pours out that love & grace because that's who He is. "8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.9 God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. 10 This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." - 1 John 4:8-10 I ask you this : Does a God full of hate sacrifice His Son in our place, KNOWING that we would always fail Him, and so often reject Him?
1 Comment
10/18/2013 04:46:47 am
In a totally different context this has been deeply in my heart this past couple weeks ... He died because He loves meso very much ... He wants that deep connected relationship with me even more than I want it because guess what!!! He knows it with God ... I don't. I don't know it with God ... not really ... I can feel the outer reaches of it maybe ... and I have certainly gone hard after the counterfeit and had my heart broken .. shattered if you really want to know ... again and again ...
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