On forums I have met people who would throw me into hell for believing in loving and forgiving others, while they claim God has forgiven and accepted them, because I do not look at theology the way they do. And when pushed a little further they did not believe Jesus was the King of our hearts, minds, emotions and strength. They were able to have God accept them as they are, forgive them of their failures and they can stay and live as they are, and no one should dare judge anything they are doing as wrong.
you realize that's not me . . .
I am glad you do not judge people. I mention the experience of being rejected for holding with love and forgiveness from the heart, because the more I know Jesus the more I know those who do not do this do not know Him.
One individual feared love as a cynical manipulation that led to idealism and cults. And in part they are right, love is the most powerful force in our lives, and loyalty placed anywhere outside Jesus is going to lead to death. They then thought anyone who preached love and forgiveness was an evil self important cult leader. And to be honest in a group setting the pain and hurt many carry, has to be handled carefully. But this is what the cross is for, to show how loved everyone is, and the path to forgiveness which we are called to follow.
But if ones heart is shut down, and theology is ones hope, then Jesus has not begun to move.
I could not believe, literally how strongly this individual spoke and intended harm. It is how the words can be like a covering of a wolf who intends to destroy others. They use language of acceptance and encouragement for some and then condemnation and rejection of others in the most emotive terms they can create. Jesus called such people false teachers, teaching thorns and thistles.
Now to these folk, they are full of hurt and know when you talk of love and tenderness, they feel pain, betrayal and disappointment. But this is the point, they have not been healed by Jesus and made whole, and what flows from them is defence, aggression and rejection even though Jesus and theology is all mixed along. When Jesus heals us in our hearts, love flows, we want to encourage and reach out, we want people to become springs of life and freedom not living in bondage and death.
I had someone say to this expression, "I am not buying it."
What they did not see was they are speaking to Jesus and the cross. What matters, what really matters, what matters eternally, above everything else, where nothing else gets sight or sign, God has forgiven us through the cross.
And we show our faith, by accepting His healing in our hearts. The two go hand in hand. If one believes Jesus, one believes in the healing and so in love and its work in who we are. If one has not believed Jesus, ones heart will testify to this.
Thorns and thistles, or love and purity. God bless you