Words Reveal the Heart
The person without the Spirit does not
accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them
foolishness and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through
the Spirit. – 1 Corinthians 2:14
We were talking about love. We were talking about
putting God first and loving others as ourselves. We were talking about loving people
who believe differently than we do and trusting God with all the rest.
The normally soft-spoken woman erupted without
warning. She’d been watching soap operas and other things on YouTube and she
used those “facts” to launch a vicious attack against homosexuality. Everyone
in the room was shocked.
We are a diverse group. We are liberals and conservatives
and all of us in between those two extremes. We are accustomed to passionate
opinions that we don’t always agree with. It’s okay. We love Jesus and we love
each other.
This was not that kind of sharing. It was mean and vicious.
It was an opinion based on lies and ugliness. It was clear she doesn’t know any
homosexuals and really hasn’t done any legitimate research. Isn’t that how it
usually goes?
I really don’t care how you feel about homosexuality.
This column isn’t about that. It’s about hating people you don’t know based on
lies you choose to believe. It’s the same thing that happened to women (another
woman in the group pointed this out), people of color, and those who are
Jewish. We hate what we don’t understand which, in our minds, allows us to
justify our behavior.
I don’t have a lot of answers. I don’t. Neither do
you. We aren’t God and we don’t understand His ways. We aren’t meant to
understand this side of heaven. That’s where faith and trust come in to play.
God has called us to love without exception. We are to
love people who are different from us. We are to love people who harm us. We
are to love others because He loved us first. God is love. If we believe that,
how can we not love others? How can we justify refusing to be the hands and
feet of Jesus?
People don’t come to Jesus because His followers (that
would be you and me) criticize and condemn people who believe differently than
we do. People don’t know how much God loves them because we lash out in anger
and fear. People know Jesus as Lord and Savior because we love them no matter
what.
Maybe my views are a product of my upbringing. That’s
generally how it goes. My grandmother believed the Bible teaches that blacks
are inferior to whites. It doesn’t, of course. I challenged her on it one day
and she never backed down. I didn’t either. But it taught me something. It
taught me that bigoted people will use the Bible to try and justify their
beliefs. That’s why it is so very important to know what God says for ourselves
rather than try and get our “facts” from YouTube, Facebook or television.
As I said earlier, I don’t have a lot of answers. But
I do believe this: God has called me to love everyone. He has called me show
others who He is through my actions. Through Him, I can love people who make
decisions I don’t agree with. Through Him, I can forgive those who have hurt me
deeply. Through Him, I can have civilized discussions about what the Bible
really says.
Your words reveal your heart. What do your words say
about you?
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