Listen. Teach

Love...

Suffers Long and is Kind, It does not envy, it does not parade itself, it us not puffed up, it does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, it thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth, LOVE BEARS ALL THINGS, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

LOVE never fails.

And the Lord God said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul, this is the first great commandment. And the second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'


To those of you still taking the time out of your day to read this, I thank you... as so many other would have rolled their eyes at the 'cliche' Bible entry and been completely uninterested.


What's interesting to me, and what I think seems to be forgotten by most Christians, is the emphasis on LOVE in the Bible. God IS love, therefore if we are supposed to be Christ like, should we not evoke love into absolutely every area of my life?

What I love is that Christ did not say first love God, then push His views onto people no matter what it takes... conversions equals jewels in heaven, after all. NO, Christ said... first love God, then love the people. For even if you SAY you love God, but you do NOT love your neighbor, everything you do in life... all the good deeds are equivelent to sounding brass and clanging symbols to God ... Paul says it best, without love... all the good works profit NOTHING.

How can the people who say to be Christians forget this so fast? I know, it can be so hard to not clench your teeth in anger at some people, to not be able to see their viewpoints when they are completely opposite of you, to not be so frustrated with the people who are not your idea of perfect, but..

it is not the Christians job to change any of that. ANY of it.

Your job, as Christians... and I honestly think of any person living in the world, religious views aside... should be to love.

So many people are taking an 'us vs. them' stance when it comes to Christians and those who do not believe the like. But that's not it at all!

HELLO dumbies (ok, that wasn't showing love.. was it?) Christ himself who walked on this earth went against the religious ideas of perfect and placed himself with the prostitutes, the social outcasts, and those who did wrong. Who are YOU to think you're too good to bestow love upon someone, simply because their views on life differ from yours.

I am not here today, to tell you my views on politics, on your life, on what you should believe or even think. No, I am here to apologize.

On behalf of every Christian who has not showed you the love that I know God himself would have showed you (and if you don't believe in my God, please, accept my apology anyway), I apologize for any Christian who has been so disgusted with your lifestyle that they treat you as the scum of the earth, I sincerely apologize if the rude, or even oblivious remarks made by Christians have thus turned you completely opposite Christ.
And although it might be very hard for people to understand this, Christians are human as well, we do screw up as you would, and we're simply trying to live life day to day.

But that it no way makes it ok for the way you may have been treated. Although I can not say any Christian I know is perfect, please understand that it is not a reflection on who God is, for I wish I could say I was a mere image of God, unconditionally loving everyone, but I am not.

James asked me the other day if I could be remembered for anything, what would it be?
I answered boldness... but I didn't really feel like that was my answer.

I know now what it would be.
I want people to remember the love I show them. No matter their race, beliefs, sexuality, social status, job, religion, political views, bakground.. anything, I want to love them. Love them as only God could love them.

And though you may not agree with my spiritual beliefs, the verses on love are undeniably life changing and can be applied to anyone, anywhere. Hasn't there been enough war and intolerance in the world? All of it ends in violence, oppression, anger and strife...

....but what if it ended in love?

escape from jury duty

good thing i called off work for jury duty.
it's not like I need the hours or anything.


and though I'm glad to have escaped my civil duty, I'm a tad bitter that I could've at least gotten paid for today.

Instead, I watch internet tv.

God bless the CW