How is it when Jesus said:
‘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. And a second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets”
How is it that we can put down or despise people that believe in different religions other than our own. I don’t profess to know a lot about Jesus and his teachings as I am relatively new to religion, but in my short stint in looking for the right church for me I have found nothing but spite between religious groups; this leaves me wondering how will I ever find a church that is unbiased against other religions, and un-diluted by time or human influence?
I am so confused.
Why are we caught up in such a vicious circle of hate and loathing towards others, can you imagine what the world would look like if we accepted others for who they are? Our place is not to judge but to accept… judgement is for someone much higher on the totem pole.
Hi again, Tabs!
If we accept that everyone has their own truth, then we are saying that truth is relative, that it changes from person to person. But if there is such a thing as absolute truth, then it doesn’t vary from person to person, and it is impossible for all religions to be of equal value. This is logic. God NEVER told us to accept all beliefs to avoid being judgmental. If we were to accept all these beliefs, then why would God become angry when the people worshiped idols while Moses was on the mountaintop? He is a jealous God. If you want God’s truth, read His book, the Bible. I would suggest you read the book of John in the New Testament, for a good start.
ok that makes sense! thanks Gail!
progressing from that i can see why there is spite between groups, however why can’t hate be replaced with concern a feeling closer to love than hate, and when people reject Christ and his teachings can we not be disappointed in them vs loathing them?
I guess where this all stemmed from was a comment made on a youtube video where a christian threatened to beat the sense out of a person from another faith. I found it very crude and offensive but my eyes have been opened a little thanks to Gail I still feel that it could have been dealt with better though
forgot to capitalize Christian sorry guys don’t take that the wrong way!
It is very disturbing when a person who says they are a Christian uses such hateful words as what you describe. There are two things which immediately come to mind: First, it is impossible to tell who is a Christian and who isn’t based on a Youtube comment. Some who claim to be Christian would curse Jesus to His face! And second, Jesus did not teach us to hate. He said “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me”. (Matthew 5:11) It is Christ’s love that draws people to Him. We fail Him when we do not love others as He has loved us.
religious battles will always be apart of r lives it will never stop, we dont have 2 condemn people who dont believe in jesus cause there already condemned john3:18 sad thought 4 me but i believe evey word of the bible, if anything we need 2 reach thse people with love and concern not hatred thats wat the christian religion is supposed 2 be, im pretty new at this 2 but i know god is good cause he saved my life more than once so i ow him and just pray that god will hlp u find a good church, i have faith he will also ill pray 4 u dont know if anything i think will hlp u or not hope it will , but always femember wats imprtant is wat god thinks.
hello frnd… i have a simple answer to ur question. Pray for a church nd belive tht u will find it. nd dont forget to give him thanks even when u dont want to..Hallelujah…
I went through a very similar experience to you, had I not experienced the love, kindness and mercy of God. I would not of gone back to church.
Pray to God to lead you to a church that he wants you to be in, secondly know that there is no such thing as a perfect church we are humans and unfortunately there will be issues in church its how it is dealt with.
And everybody is at different stages in there faith.
As you are relatively new to your faith its important you get the teaching you need to grow spiritually.
The pastor should really be teaching in love, and should promote religious tolerance not hatred.
And as said above we should be reaching out to people in love, with the truth of the word and not condemnation and judgement.
Keep fellowshiping with the Lord and read your word. Ask God
for wisdom and a discerning spirit.
Know that God loves you and he will lead and guide you, and maybe he has placed this on your heart because he wants you to pray about it.
God bless.
I agree one hundred percent, in my opinion there is no religion that is totally correct, and a lot of people in the church will never get it right either,I find it better to just walk away when it comes up. But there is a bright light shinning in certain places, you just need to be guided by God to the correct spot & time. Last Christmas my wife joined a little baptist church in our very rural community to sing in the choir for the holiday. We quickly found out about the community Christmas pageant, I immediatlly offered my time and sound equipment for free to the cause! Two Baptist churches, one Methodist, the Catholic bell choir from town, and the Mormon choir, and several soloist from the comunity, all performing in the Local Mormon church. just the thought of it still brings tears to my eyes! So chin up! there is still hope in this world, and God is the only way to go!!!
My advice is to stop looking for a church and start looking for Jesus. He wants a personal relationship with you. If you can do this then He will lead you in the path he has prepared for you.
I have to agree with Phillip above – If you do not know about Jesus or the things God has commanded us to do – how will you then know you are in the right church? Not all churches follow Gods word entirely – sorry to say – so where is the best place to go to know Him? The bible says that if we repent and seek Him – He will answer. I know this first hand as it was the Lord that did answer me and I was not in a church or even affiliated with one. The wonder is that one simple step on my part – repenting with my whole heart and soul – He answered through His Word. I would pray about something – a question or thought I wanted to know – and I would go to His Word and read and every time He answered through reading it without fail. At first we are like children learning and as we continue seeking Him, He teaches us through His Word. It truly is a miracle to me – but that is exactly what He says He will do. I have used very few other resources since then because it continues to answer and “feed” me so that I may grow in Christ. One day that I prayed and read His Word, I was unsure I was understanding something correctly and I was afraid that I was putting my fleshy seeds into what I was reading so I did go to the internet to find out what the Latter Rain was. I found the web site the-latter-rain.com and was happy to see that I had not misunderstood the content I had understood that morning. Some may find it too much – but it is entirely done by scripture. It helps young christians quickly see the big picture quickly. I will pray that you seek Him and then I know He will answer you.
Charity
Know Christ…and NOT know people to know Christ..!!!
I didnt grow up in church and until recently I’ve finally figured out that church isn’t God. Church is people that gather to be with those who believe in God. Its sad that I had such high expectations of what church would be, but I hope I’ll come to terms with it being imperfect like we humans are. Please don’t take my meaning to be that I think people shouldn’t go to church. Church can be a place to make friends who believe as you do and a place to learn more about Jesus. Just remember that the people in the church are believers in Christ and need Christ because as humans we will never be perfect and will always make mistakes. I do wish church would be what I’d hoped but now after 7 year’s I’m beginning to understand that I’d expected way to much from humanity and I need to start accepting people for the imperfect beings they are and who need Jesus to guide them and save them.