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yes!!! Amen
and hallelujah!
posted by
Metta
on September 18, 2005 at 8:04 PM
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Caleb -
I like your statement about cracks in the foundation. That's something I have to continually watch for. And while I value your input on my blog, I do see things a bit differently. For me, grace doesn't mean that I have been pardoned by "God", though I may not deserve it. Grace means that "God" loves me, has always loved me, and always will love me. I don't think "God" sits around and says, "Well, Sannhet has been messing up a bit, and even though he doesn't deserve it, I am still going to love him." Grace to me is the unconditional love that is "God".
With regard to tolerance, I'm not one who thinks that it is an approach that allows us to do whatever we want - there has to be respect as a guiding principal. But I do think that any view that has love at its core, regardless of what it is called, is a valid view.
posted by
sannhet
on September 17, 2005 at 8:28 AM
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Digital -
Thanks for stopping by and sharing one of my favorite Robert Browning quotes!
posted by
sannhet
on September 17, 2005 at 8:11 AM
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Avant -
Thanks!
posted by
sannhet
on September 17, 2005 at 8:10 AM
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Foundational Topics
I think we definately need to love our neighbor and because of the grace God has given us, show grace to other people. To me grace is different from tolerance. Grace implies, "I have failed to live up to where God wants me to be too.. I don't deserve it but God has pardoned me anyway... let's try to help each other as we struggle to be where God wants us to be." And one of the things God wants is for us to avoid sin as He has defined it in the Bible. In common usage "tolerance" seems to imply that what we do doesn't matter and all points of view are equally valid. There is no need to even struggle to avoid sin. For that matter, the world tells us we don't even have to accept that God has the authority over our lives to define what is a sin. I would still place a little more emphasis in terms of how the church should spend its time and energy on the grace part. But the two together are pretty foundational. Every now and then I have to check my foundation for cracks.
posted by
calebs_blogger
on September 16, 2005 at 6:08 PM
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That's true...
We often miss the mark, if we say we love
God then we must love
each other from our hearts, not with a plastic smile but with a pure true love
that want's to see the other lifted up and not fallen down. "
Take away love and our world is a tomb." Robert Browning
posted by
Digitalink
on September 16, 2005 at 1:21 PM
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sannhet
great work. so true.
posted by
avant-garde
on September 16, 2005 at 12:29 PM
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Ariala -
Thanks!
posted by
sannhet
on September 16, 2005 at 12:16 PM
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Sannhet,
I agree with you on the love part. We must love God and each other with all of our hearts. Since God is in each one of us and we are made in His image, we can't love Him if we don't love each other.
As far as the sin part, yes we often miss the mark, but if we truly love God, we are aware of it and make every effort not to "miss the mark" again. Missing the mark or sin may or may not be the same thing. Missing the mark purposefully and knowingly is a sin. You have to know it is a sin, and want to do it for it to be a sin. If you don't know something is a sin and do it, you are not sinning.
Loving God and each other completely and unconditionally will keep us from doing anything that is a sin because if we do everything with love in mind, we won't think to do anything else. Therefore, love is grace and the more we love, the more grace we receive to continue to love.
Thanks for your beautiful post.
posted by
RAME
on September 16, 2005 at 12:05 PM
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Sannhet, amen to that!
posted by
Ariala
on September 16, 2005 at 12:02 PM
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