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Love versus Law
April 23, 2019
I have to make an effort these days not to feel ashamed of the things self-proclaimed men of God are saying in the name of my Lord, Jesus. Let me explain.
I have been a Christian all my life and am enjoying the freedom it gives me, because I know that I am a child of God through the sacrifice of Jesus, who was willing to die for everything I have done wrong and anything I may still do wrong.
I am grateful every single day for that freedom and knowing that neither God nor Jesus are judging me, gives me hope that I may one day shake off other people’s judgment of me as well. I’m still a human being with my flaws and I am sensitive to how others perceive me. In the end, who isn’t? But knowing that God is looking at me with an absolute and perfect love, no matter what I do, is so liberating that I would want everyone to have that! It is the ultimate freedom, a freedom of fear, that can only come from a perfect, divine love (1 John 4:18 - There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.)
It pains me to see that there are still people in the 21st century who apparently are unable to extend that perfect, unconditional love to their neighbors. After accepting the grace of Jesus, it’s as if they instantly turn around to start measuring other people. Bible in hand, they think they now have the authority to judge their fellow-man, even while Jesus specifically tells us not to judge each other in that same Bible (Matthew 7:1-5 for instance).
It must be that human weakness I guess, this constant need to prove ourselves; to feel like we are doing something right. In order to feel good about ourselves, we need reassurance about our behavior. And so we go look for rules to stick to. Rules are safe. Laws are safe. Obey the rules, and you’re safe.
But we were already safe to begin with, through the grace of God, weren’t we?
Isn’t that enough?
Apparently it isn’t for everyone. Leaving things up to a person’s individual relationship with Jesus and their individual development is too scary. It can’t be measured (which is the whole point). But some people can’t deal with not being able to measure something and seem to let fear back in. What if I’m getting it wrong?
And so people have created a brand new set of rules. They impose those rules on their fellow-believers first, and on the rest of the world after that. After being freed from the law that had proven to be impossible to keep, they return to that same law to guide them.
And in the process, they turn away from love.
There is no other way to put it and people who say they don’t believe in Jesus are probably the ones who can make the distinction better than anyone. You can spot a mile away whether someone is speaking out of Love, or out of Law.
I am not saying that ordinary, earthly laws are wrong. They’re not. We need them to maintain order in our human society. But in the Kingdom of God, there is a different law. It is the law of Love. When asked what the most important law was, Jesus didn’t pick one of the ten commandments. He didn’t pick any of the regulations from the Old Testament. And he also didn’t say that the law was no longer valid.
This is what He said (Matthew 22:36-40 New American Standard Bible) when they asked Him:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost (or first) commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets (meaning the entire Old Testament).
I’m sure you could have heard a pin drop after Jesus said that.
Because how to you translate those two commandments into rules and regulations?
You can’t!
And that is the whole point.
Anything we think, say or do needs to be based on this. Anything we read in the Bible or quote from the Bible, needs to be seen in this light. In the light of love.
The Bible also tells us that God will write his laws in our hearts, meaning that in a personal relationship with his Son Jesus, we will gradually learn from Him. I can testify from personal experience that this happens. In an environment of unconditional love, we are free to learn - at our own pace - what the best way for us to live is, so we will be free and happy and truly our unique selves. It is an ongoing process and we cannot and may not judge whatever stage of development another person is. There is no roadmap either, that prescribes in which order we are supposed to learn which ‘lessons’. Every person’s journey is unique. We are all in that process of learning and nobody has any right to boast about how far they have come already. It’s pure grace, nothing more; no personal effort, no matter how badly we would still like to ‘earn’ our spot. We cannot earn what has already been given to us freely and we should not demand from others that they meet certain standards before they can start enjoying their salvation.
You can’t regulate what goes on inside a person’s heart. You can’t regulate how a person develops that personal relationship with Jesus. And you most definitely can’t impose your own set of rules on people who haven’t even met Jesus yet!
Now if we’re going to play this game (we’re not), for the sake of argument, how can a self-proclaimed man of God quote a Bible verse from the Old Testament about homosexuality, and ignore the verse in that same Old Testament about divorce equaling adultery?
How can one person - who has literally said he has never apologized for anything - get a waiver from this church for breaking just about all of the ten commandments without asking forgiveness for it, while another is condemned over one thing that is mentioned just once elsewhere in the Bible?
But like I said, we’re not going to play this game. This is not what the Bible stands for. This is not what Jesus stands for. He Himself didn’t even come to us to judge us. He only came to save us. So who are we to start judging and measuring each other?
The Bible is not a book of laws. It is a book of Love.
If you try hard enough, you can make Bible verses say whatever you want them to. You can pull up verses to serve whatever narrative you are trying to sell. But that is not what Jesus told us to do.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost (or first) commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
And when people asked Jesus who their neighbor was, and he told them the parable about the good Samaritan (in 21st century context, I’m pretty sure He would have called him a good Mexican), He didn’t ask them afterwards who the neighbor had been. He asked them who had been good to his neighbor. That was the focus. You don’t have to wonder who your neighbor is, just be kind to whoever you meet.
Please note, it doesn’t say we should work for God with our entire being, as if we’re being given a job. We are not called to serve God as His government officials, making speeches about the ‘laws’ of the Kingdom of God on his behalf or even enforcing those laws. We are called to love Him and receive His love in return, and then passing on that love to others. Jesus will deal with everything else.
I cannot see anyone in a loving relationship with their Savior turn around and spew hate and condemnation at a fellow human being. God loves every single person equally, regardless of age, gender, size, skin color, sexual orientation, country of origin, social status or bank account.
Those who condemn entire groups of people are not doing so out of love for God or for their fellow-man. They may have convinced themselves that they are fighting the good fight, but spreading hate against other people, sowing division and even encouraging violence - or condoning others to do these things - go directly against the heart of God.
You can spot a mile away whether someone is speaking out of Love or out of Law.
God chose Love.
Jesus chose Love.
I choose Love.
Choose Love.
Rhetoric
January 31, 2018
I feel very blessed these days to live in a country where reason overrides rhetoric in politics. It is confusing at times to watch what’s going on in the US at the moment. The rhetoric from all sides is off the scales and it’s as if facts and reason are no longer paramount. Someone launches a tweet with some innuendo and flocks of people immediately accept the innuendo as fact, because it suits their narrative. It’s a fascinating process but it also worries me. Because this isn’t a game. People’s lives and livelihoods are at stake here.
In my attempts to understand why ordinary, decent people are still wholeheartedly supporting Mr. Trump, I’ve found that the problem really is that there are two lines of thinking that are completely incompatible. And in a country that is being polarized more each day, people are basically forced to pick a side and stick with it.
A considerable group of conservatives seem to think that there is a huge conspiracy going on, and the end goal is to trap the entire country (or the world) in suffocating legislation (big government) so the American dream will die. Through all kinds of laws, money generated by hard-working Americans will be squandered on people who haven’t worked as hard so basically, they (the group who feels this way) are going to be robbed. They want what is rightfully theirs.
On top of that criminals are being allowed into the country to steal even more and to kill hard-working Americans at their leisure. (And no, that’s not an exaggeration. This is a line of thinking I come across regularly.)
Now most progressives are ordinary people who believe it’s right to look out for each other and to protect each other. They want to use what they can spare to make life more bearable for people who are less fortunate that them - and legislation is one way of doing that. A lot of regulations that have recently been rolled back or may be rolled back, were aimed at protecting consumers from corporate greed, protecting hospital patients from abuse by the staff, protecting the gay community from discrimination, protecting victims of abuse from their attackers, protecting children who were brought into the country without knowing they were there illegally, attempting to protect future generations from man-made environmental disasters, and so on.
Because of the belief of the conservative group that anything ‘progressive’ is aimed to achieve the suffocating goal described above, all regulations restricting individuals and companies, must be abolished. Complete freedom is their motto, they believe in an absolute capitalist economy, which they believe will eventually benefit everyone who is willing to work for it.
The average progressive will feel threatened when protective measures are being lifted, and will feel that they are at the mercy of others without any legal recourse if things go wrong. They fear that the rich will only get richer while the poor will only get poorer.
Now I don’t want to go all Biblican on my readers but when Jesus told us that, if we had two coats, we should give one away to someone who has no coat, he didn’t tell us to go without a coat. Merely to give away what we can spare - because no one needed two coats in His days where He lived. When He told us to give without expecting anything in return, He didn’t tell us to give more away than we can spare.
It would be irresponsible for us to start taking care of others better than we’re taking care of ourselves. This is not what conservatives want, and it’s not what progressives want either.
When a government tells the country that they’re going to assign part of the taxes they collect to helping certain groups of people who are - for some reason or another - more vulnerable and/or more susceptible to abuse, conservatives immediately see it as proof of their views, that progressives want to rob them from what is rightfully theirs.
The same goes for regulations restricting businesses, even if those regulations are designed to protect consumers from those businesses.
I state that this is not the case. Everyone has to pay taxes anyway. The money is used for a variety of things. No government will ever simply ‘give away’ more than they can afford. It’s not good for the country, it’s not good for the government, it’s not good for anyone. The economy would collapse.
When a government tells the country that they are going to give corporate businesses free range and dismiss all kinds of regulations designed to protect those with less power from those with more power, progressives are concerned. Personally, I would expect everyone to be concerned, but doing away with regulations fits the narrative of the conservatives who believe any form of regulation is an attack on the American Dream (except maybe regulation concerning immigration).
If you’re still reading, you probably think I would be a 100% Democrat if I were a US citizen. I would not say that about myself. As I’ve mentioned before on my website, I am a Christian. As a Christian I have certain views that would be considered conservative in the US. However, I have other views that would be considered progressive in the US.
An example: I am against abortion.
As a result - which makes complete sense to me - I am for free/cheap birth control.
Do you see how my views cross the party lines?
I do not believe abstinence and monogamy can be legislated. I may think it’s the best and safest way to be in a relationship, but I’m not blind nor ignorant. Even the president of the United States will agree with me that there is no law that will prevent a person from committing adultery or engaging in premarital sex.
This is why I believe in comprehensive sex education, open discussions about it and free/cheap birth control. Preventing pregnancy is the best cure for abortion. Taking away birth control, on the other hand, is a way to make certain more abortions will take place. That’s just the way it is, no matter how we may feel about it.
I am blessed to have a dear friend who is a conservative, and I can talk to her about politics without getting into an argument with her. She’s told me that the only news outlets she takes seriously are Fox News and Breitbart. She doesn’t watch or read anything else. To me, this explains why good folks can still think that this president is a blessing to the country. These ‘news’ outlets feed their assumptions about ‘the Dems’ or ‘the Left’ while attributing anything that goes right to the current president. Incidents involving illegal immigrants are being passed around as talking points while any form of criticism against conservatives is dismissed as being a setup by those awful progressives, who are being funded by a man named Soros?
On the other hand, progressives are only too eager to dismiss anyone who still supports Trump simply because they dislike the man. It’s easy to call someone a racist or a bigot and be done with them. But by doing that, you are dismissing a person entirely. I know it’s tempting to shut someone down when either Hillary or Obama is brought up for the millionth time. But you have to assume that people aren’t willfully blind when all news outlets have been labeled as garbage and the ones they do listen to are simply feeding their own assumptions. I doubt I would be any different if the roles were reversed! Once you’re convinced everyone is out to get your guy (or you), everything the ‘others’ say or do will only confirm that conviction.
Now I don’t have a solution to this issue. I wrote this piece because I wanted to get it off my chest. I can only hope that once the results of the Mueller investigation are finally in the open - and they had better come out in the open! - people will be able to meet each other in the middle again.
I don’t claim that this entry is comprehensive and I’m sure there are a lot of nuances that I haven’t addressed. I guess I’m just hoping for some more understanding between two extremes. Call me an ideologist but without hope, what do we have?
Thank you for reading.
Common ground
August 8, 2017
There seems to be only one goal to Donald Trump’s rhetoric: making all Americans believe that no common ground can ever be found with the ‘other side’. ‘Others’ are easy targets, scapegoats, someone or a group to mock. ‘They’ are all wrong and only ‘we’ are right. All sides will feel that way, not just ‘his’ side, and thus all attempts to create dialogue are undermined.
A person from one group who stands up to reach out to another group, is immediately labeled a traitor, a fake this-or-that, et cetera by the group it belongs to. Anyone who sticks their neck out, risks having their head chopped off. So publicly calling for dialogue is also discouraged.
One person can be hailed as a hero by one ‘side’ while being called a traitor by the other ‘side’. It is all but forbidden to agree with anyone breaking ranks and either opposing or agreeing with something the president or his administration are doing. (The opposing vs agreeing depending on the person’s starting point.)
And so the divide grows.
Donald Trump seems to want it this way. He thrives on praise, preferably personal praise, and needs an enemy to blame and to prove how wonderful he is. Forget Russia; the media it is. And of course half of your fellow Americans who happen to vote differently from you. He is making you see your fellow Americans as the enemy … let that sink in for a minute.
And the American people are allowing it to happen. They are all willing, enthusiastic participants in keeping the divide and making it grow.
However, the group of people seeing the need to come together and find common ground, is growing. Fortunately, this is happening among lawmakers too. People advocating for this movement are publicly scorned and yelled at from all sides, especially (naturally) on the internet. Since this movement is different from ‘us’, ‘they’ must be wrong. People will say it is ‘too late’ so they won’t have to agree with people from the ‘other side’ just yet. Others will threaten to vote the lawmakers out that are now reaching out to ‘the enemy’.
I will not deny that a lot of hate is being spewed from all sides. No one is innocent in this, and hateful, hurtful comments will often make people hit back. (This is literally being encouraged by the president.) Acknowledging this fact, may be the first step to finding common ground, if you are willing to denounce it.
There, you have agreed on something with someone from the ‘other’ group! You should not hate each other.
You all love your country. Don’t you? Some don’t believe that the ‘others’ really love their country. But instead of letting prejudice rule and pulling out all kinds of historic data about the ‘other’ group, why not approach an actual person and have an actual conversation with them? You may not agree on how to make America great again (if it wasn’t already), but you will find that you both do love your country.
I am a common ground kind of person. For instance, I love finding common ground with fellow believers from different churches and be happy about what we have in common without dwelling on the differences. Politically, I think I would need to call myself a centrist, which fits my desire to bring people together. I agree with some of the views from the right and with some of the views from the left. I have no problem with that. I don’t have this uncontrollable urge to identify myself with one particular side. I am grateful to live in a country (The Netherlands) where I am free to think the way I want and all opinions are appreciated.
I think that the need to belong may be part of the reason this big divide is maintained in the US. People want to identify with something bigger than themselves. There is safely in numbers, right? It is much scarier to have your own, personal opinions about things. But then again, it is also much braver. Wanna identify with ‘free thinkers’ just to have a group to belong to? Fine. But do keep on thinking – or start thinking – for yourself. There is no harm in agreeing with the ‘other side’ on one issue, and there is no harm in disagreeing with your ‘side’ on another. It doesn’t make you an enemy of the state, even if others in a particular group want to make you feel like you are.
It takes courage – a lot of courage – to break free from the restraints of one particular group and to start thinking for yourself. But I believe this is the only way for Americans to ever find common ground and a clear direction for the future of their country. They can’t keep zig-zagging from left to right every four to eight years. It is exhausting and counterproductive.
Do I believe there is common ground to be found on health care? Yes.
On immigration? Yes.
On taxes? Yes.
On the environment? Yes.
Does Donald Trump believe it? Does he want you to believe it?
Are you brave enough to believe in the power of the citizens and lawmakers of the USA to find common ground, even if your leaders discourage it?
I believe in the American people, because I believe that good will triumph in the end. But good can only triumph when you are willing to fight for all your fellow Americans and stop seeing them as the enemy. It can only triumph when all Americans win. Not just one side.
Feel free to comment on this article or previous ones by contacting me on Twitter, @IamAnneke1969
I know I am taking a leap of faith here by giving you my Twitter name, but I am a lover, not a fighter. Throw insults at me and I will have no choice but to block you. It is sad that I even need to mention that here but it is the unfortunate state we are in today.
It’s my Party
July 28, 2017
I will admit that I don’t have a very thick skin, and I may get upset when I see other people arguing. These days, sometimes I’m afraid to open my Twitter feed because of all the ranting that goes on there about US politics.
What I find most disconcerting, and painful, is how people don’t seem to be able to have a normal exchange of ideas anymore. They aren’t listening to each other at all and the name calling is off the charts. They tell me it’s been this way for decades.
To me as a citizen of the Netherlands, this is really unbelievable. In my country, we talk about ideas, plans and practical solutions to tangible and less tangible problems. So do our elected officials. We hardly ever mention a party at all. We don’t follow a certain group, we think for ourselves. We have ideas and discuss those ideas with people who may have different ideas. They may have voted for a different party than me, but I wouldn’t know. It’s not an issue.
I may agree on a few points with the party I voted for, and on other points with a different party. This is normal to me. I don’t follow a group blindly. I think for myself and I discuss my ideas freely. People respect my opinions like I respect theirs.
And then I see the American people, split down the middle, divided by a seemingly bottomless abyss. Democrats and Republicans. And I don’t get it. I truly don’t. Who cares, really? It’s supposed to be about the best way to run the country, right? Not about which party is doing it. Right?
Well, in the US, wrong. Apparently.
Whenever I read threads on Twitter, I see people defining each other as well as themselves based on their political preference, making the other side the enemy in the process. This can give me actual stomach aches sometimes. You’re all living in the same country and at least half of the country doesn’t agree with you. So why do you think your ‘side’ is doing everything right and the other side is doing everything wrong? That just doesn’t make sense.
It boggles the mind that the various news outlets in the States give their audience a rendering of newsworthy events that is the exact opposite of what others are reporting. Now that is simply impossible. They can’t both be right. So the Democrats will say the Republicans are lying, and the Republicans will say that the Democrats are lying. But they can’t both be right, so who is right? And are they right all the time, or does that vary?
If the American people want a solution that will make them one people, ‘one nation under God’ again, they will need to start talking with each other again. Because the country is more divided now than ever before and under the current administration, it will only get worse.
My hopes are on the younger generation. The people in their twenties or maybe even younger, who haven’t been tainted with the divisive beliefs of the generations before them yet. Unfortunately, I see the same attitude among the younger Americans already, but if there is going to be a change for the better, it will have to come from you, the kids, the teenagers, the young adults.
I’ve tried to have a real conversation on Twitter with people who have a different view than me, and I have to say, once they know that I’m not there to yell at them but I’m genuinely interested in what makes them think the way the do, they are ALL interested in talking to me. Republicans as well as Democrats. Now it may help that I’m not an American, so they view me as a fairly neutral party. But I have seen that even the people with the harshest tweets and the most nasty name calling, are just regular people who care about their country, or at least about their state or their home town.
What did hurt me was, when I wished someone the best, they answered me that they were doing just fine because ‘their party’ had the White House, Congress and the Senate. In other words, screw everyone else. This seems to happen a lot too. It’s us against them, and people are wishing half of their fellow-Americans bad luck (and that’s putting it mildly). They even tell their fellow-Americans to just leave the country if they don’t agree with what’s happening (!).
The USA will never be one nation under God as long as people maintain this attitude.
Instead of saying ‘It’s my party’, they should be saying ‘It’s our country. Let’s fix it together.’
Until then, the rest of the world looks on in bewilderment. Some (hostile) countries will take advantage of the situation. Others will no longer look to the USA as an example or a trustworthy ally until a new tone is set. And this tone will need to come from you, the people. Don’t look to your leaders to set an example. Think for yourselves and change the world - beginning with you!
Thank you for reading.
Consider the source?
March 17, 2017
“Consider the source” is another way of saying that any information recieved from a certain source can’t be taken seriously because that source has been wrong before, or lacks credibility.
Recently, people have spoken out against celebrities voicing their opinions about the political developments in the US. Hollywood is not considered a source to be taken seriously because it has a double standard.
Art of known sex offenders and abusive spouses is still celebrated at big events like the Golden Globes or the Oscars.
This is true.
However.
Now a man has taken residence at the White House who is also not beyond reproach. To deny this is futile, it is common knowledege. His followers urge us to ‘give him a chance’. They consider him someone who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, thus explaining the way he expresses himself. The fact that he seizes all opportunities to express himself extremely negatively against those who don’t agree with him on something, the fact that he makes statements without providing proof, yet challenges anything and everything that seems to contradict him, even when there is proof of these contradicting statements - we are to overlook all of this.
If we, the world, are to overlook Mr Trumps many flaws, I would think that his followers should overlook the flaws of Hollywood too. Not fair, you say?
I don’t mean you should condone abuse.
Never!
But I do mean that even words spoken by a celebrity from a community that has double standards, can be true.
Therefore, I want to invite you to look at a few words and forget who spoke them. Just look at the words.
“We welcome you, and we truly thank you for joining us here at ‘Hamilton: An American Musical.’ We really do. We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us. All of us. Again, we truly thank you for sharing this show, this wonderful American story told by a diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations.”
Are these words insulting? Are they an attack on someone? They do express a concern. Is that an insult? I don’t see it.
What I did see was that Mr Trump thought it was an insult and an attack and this is what worries me. Why would he consider it an attack when someone asks his administration to work for all Americans? Isn’t that what he vowed to do? That the words were interpreted as an insult anyway, is something to think about long and hard.
Another quote:
“And this instinct to humiliate, when it's modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody's life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.”
Yes, these words were personal, directed at someone who knew it was about him without being mentioned by name. And he was livid.
But.
When you re-read the words and forget who spoke them or even whom they were about, are they not true?
Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. And I would add, extremism incites extremism.
A lot of celebrities are being slammed on social media for sharing their opinions. They are even being told to stop talking and just entertain, because that is what they are being paid for.
Likewise, Chelsea Clinton can count on hateful comments each time she tweets, regardless of what she is tweeting about and whether it is true or not, because her parents have lied in the past. This is a sad argument to dismiss her words, simply because she is the one saying them.
Maybe we should stop for a minute and not consider the source, but just the words.
Maybe we should take a long hard look at some of the words that have been tweeted by Mr Trump and try to forget it was him tweeting them.
Maybe we should weigh words fairly and carefully before judging them based on who spoke them.
I know this may be a completely novel idea to many people, but it is actually possible for someone from ‘the other side’ to say something you can agree with, like it is possible for someone from your own side to say something you don’t agree with. This someone could even be the president.
Here’s to not considering the source but the words, and to respectful interaction so we can actually learn from each other.
About Christian values and Legislation
January 20, 2017
I believe that some Christian voters in the USA actually thought they were voting to bring back Christian values to their society by voting for Mr. Trump.
However.
If Biblical history has shown one thing, it’s that legislation will never instill Christian values in people. The law didn’t work. (Source: The Old Testament). That is why Jesus came. He fulfilled the law by giving his own life for those who should have been punished. For us. Because the law didn’t work. Jesus has told us that he will write his law in our hearts. That is where the change begins. In us.
When asked as a test which commandment was the most important one, Jesus replied the following (Matthew 22):
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Those who still depend on laws, have not truly understood this message. Jesus summarized the entire law in one word: LOVE.
He makes absolutely no distinction in who you should and shouldn’t love. It was love that made him give his life for his enemies. Yes, not just for his friends, but also for his enemies.
He himself has said, that he didn’t come to judge, but to save. If he didn’t come here to judge others, who are we to do so? We are only told to love. That is the law he wants to write in our hearts, and it is the only way to bring Jesus to other people. He will deal with everything else.
I don’t claim to know how Jesus feels about abortion, euthanasia or same-sex relationships. Maybe you say that as a Christian, I should know. I disagree. Because it’s not up to me to judge anyone so I won’t. All Jesus tells me to do, is to love people, whoever they are and however they choose to live, just like he does. I have found that it is not difficult at all. We just need to let go of our preconceived notions about how people are supposed to behave, and start taking an interest in the actual person in front of us.
Maybe it is difficult if you were raised with a sense of superiority. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Jesus loves you too!
As it is, I have seen more of the love of Christ in people who don’t call themselves Christians at all than in some who claim they have the absolute truth.
Not a single law will change the spiritual climate of a country. Only love can.
And that begins with YOU.
Thank you for reading.
Hello world!
January 10, 2017
Hello world! My name is Anneke (pronounce as Anneka, kinda) and I decided to start a blog because I have these urges to write about a broad range of topics, and I think I may have something to add to the online discussions that are always going on.
I am a Christian and you will regularly find a Christian point of view in my posts. There is no way around it as for me, being a Christian is a way of life, and not something restricted to certain times and places.
I am still debating whether or not I will add a reply feature here, because I have found that the presumed anonymity of the internet can – unfortunately – bring out the worst in people. I sometimes lose sleep over people’s negativity and that is not why I started this blog.
Please heed my header to know where I stand on exchanging ideas and opinions with others:
I can respectfully agree to disagree with anyone about anything.
I cannot accept disrespect.
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