Thanks Tim, Jenn, Robin, and anyone else who read my last post and put some thought into the concept of Christian love. Mostly, I already knew everything you all wrote, I was just having one of those moments where I was overwhelmed by the whole concept of trying to love everyone as Christ loved us. All three of you helped me remember that yes, it is overwhelming and will always be so, but that I can keep striving for an ideal because God is (and all of you, my Christian friends, are) there to support me and pick me up when I stumble. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Jenn, I can't wait to see you on Friday! I'll be calling you soon, if you haven't heard from me by the time you read this! :)
7 comments:
You see how I'm commenting now that I see people get thanked for commenting? ;) But Seriously, Folks...
I agree with everyone else that we should be following Christ's example as closely as possible. I think there's a disconnect, though, in that we are physically unable to love everyone fully as Christ did. I've always thought that, unlike Christ, we have to make a conscious decision to love others, and we have to do so without being directly connected to God in the way He was. I like to read the Corinthians verses as meaning that, when we choose to love people (as opposed to being friendly to them or "wishing them well"), we need to do it completely. Much like being a Christian, love is a commitment.
Is that a cop-out answer? Maybe. Well, actually, yeah, probably. But I hope it gives you a thought to consider!
Ryan
Ha! I love it! I was just thinking about what you are up to, so I hopped onto your blog!
Can't wait to see you Friday, and don't worry about calling and planning. I'll be here, so feel free just to show up if you want! :)
Have a great day!
To respond to Ryan's post... I'd have to respectfully disagree that it was easier for Jesus to love everyone while He was physically on Earth. For God to accept Jesus' sacrifice to save us, Jesus would have to be fully human in terms of being tempted in the same way that all humans are. In my mind, that means He was separated from God in the same way that we are, and it was just as difficult for Him to love all people fully as it is for the rest of us.
(I do realize that while in human form Jesus had some kind of connection with God, because He knew that God was His Father, that He would die and rise again, etc. But I don't believe that connection included any special, superhuman help from God so He could resist sin more easily.)
When you think about it that way, it's that much more astonishing: that Jesus was able to walk on this Earth and live a completely perfect life--which included loving everyone the way God loves us--despite having human limitations and weaknesses.
~CH
That's actually closer to what I believe, now that I think about it. It raises an interesting question: how do we reconcile Jesus' human fallibility with the fact that he was God?
-Ryan
More specifically, the first few chapters of Romans say pretty clearly that we can never, no matter how hard we try, fulfill all of God's laws. That's why Jesus died for our sins - so he could assume our sins for us and justify us through our faith in Him. So if we can love everyone as fully as Jesus did, why did Jesus have to die at all?
-Ryan, again
Ah, those are the questions humans have been wrangling with for a few thousand years... no easy answers, methinks. : )
~CH
No kidding. That's why it's so fun to study! :)
-Ryan
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