Page 680 … confronting sin
“Jesus never tolerated sin. He confronted it — in love.”
Well, this statement is at least partially true. Jesus did indeed directly confront sin – and yet if you actually READ YOUR BIBLE closely, you will see that he always did so with gentle compassion for those he confronted (see Luke 7:37, John 8:3-11, Luke 10:27-37, Luke 17:11-19, John 4:7-40, Luke 7:36, Luke 15:1 & Luke 19:7-10) & that he never did so with condemnation.*
[*As an exception to this rule, Jesus did verbally attack the scribes & the Pharisees with aggressive zeal – those religious “leaders” who adopted a stance towards the different and the downtrodden that was very similar to the one you & yours are taking towards homosexuals!]
Indeed, to merely “tolerate” another’s sin is to arrogantly claim that you somehow know for a fact that they are sinning; exuding a level of pride that Jesus very clearly wanted us never to exemplify (see Matthew 18:3-4 & Matthew 23:12). The sins of others are their own, Lucy, and correcting them is a matter to be left solely between the individual sinner and their God. In truth, each & every one of us has more than enough personal failures & weaknesses to worry about to invest time or energy in denouncing the potential (or even the probable) sins of others, a belief that Jesus Christ himself heartily endorsed!
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees; you hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup [of others], but inside are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of your own cup, so that the outside might also become truly clean.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 23:25-26)
“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged … Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own? … You hypocrite! First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbor’s … Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this young child is the greatest in the Kingdom” ~ Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:1-2 + 18:3-4)
“Be perfect [in LOVE] therefore, just as [the LOVE] of your Father in Heaven is perfect … There is no fear in Love, but perfect Love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in Love … Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful.” ~ Matthew 5:48 + 1 John 4:18 + Luke 6:36
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