Tuesday, September 5, 2017

Many whom I deeply respect...

Today, I pick up this blog & write a few words. I know people whom I deeply respect & even admire may stumble across this post & read it. Some of them have had a great impact on my life & have helped me formulate some of my own beliefs. I realize that many of them may disagree with what I write & may even judge me. It's possible they will think I have abandoned my faith or made up my own Bible, at the very least, misinterpreted the words of the Bible. Truth is... my faith has never been deeper. My life has never been more dependent on the Lord for each hour of each day. He is the air that I breathe. Without Him, I am nothing.

As you read my words, please realize that what I write is nothing more than my words, my thoughts, on an ugly subject. I am by no means a Bible scholar. Tho' I have followed the Lord for a lifetime, I must admit that my relationship with Him is based more on my heart than my intelligence. I believe that a lifetime of following the Lord has allowed me to grasp Christ's message, but as I said, not so much in an intellectual way. That isn't to say I have no Biblical knowledge but to say that at this time in my life, I am unable to express my knowledge & articulate it in a way that would be acceptable to those who are scholarly.

I welcome the opinions of my readers but ask that you express them in a way which is respectful of me & more importantly, the people for whom this blog is written. Over the last 7 years of my life, I have experienced one trauma after another. I actually am able to thank God for my horrors. Not because I am a super human being, but because thru them God has shaped my heart for Him. In Him, I have found my wholeness, my strength, my conviction, my courage, my ability to laugh & carry on even when  my heart has been overcome with deep sadness & no reassurance of the future or what it holds. I have learned that no one is immune to anything. My story is not written the way I planned it. I am not inviting more trauma into my life. I am only thanking God for what I have thus far experienced. I am quite sure there is more to come because that is life.

As I heard about the Nashville Statement, I think my mouth dropped open. As I researched, my heart broke for the LGBT population. I could only see Christ meeting each of them at the well & embracing them. I believe in "God is Love" as is written in the Bible. Christ did not shun people, He loved them. He met them where they were & ministered to them. I do not have the insight of Christ to judge another soul, therefore I believe it is my responsibility to love each soul that comes into my life.

I am well aware of the Bible verses which were used to make the conclusions expressed by the Nashville Statement, & I am well aware of the repeating message of the Bible from Genesis thru Revelations. I don't understand each verse of the Bible, so I will just have to wait for the other side of Heaven to see the whole picture. I am okay with that. I am NOT God. I believe that the repeating theme of the Bible trumps picking apart individual verses & taking them out of context. I believe that the message which permeates throughout the whole Bible speaks so much louder than the verses picked out to shun & hurt this quite loving community of people. I believe the Bible must be looked at as a whole.

What is this message of which I speak? It is a message of, "God is Love." It is a message of God going to extreme lengths to draw each soul unto Him. It is a message of His patience with our sorry souls & His forgiveness. Christ did not walk the earth failing to love anyone whose heart was open to Him or would one day soften. Christ was all about healing the hurting. He fed them. He prayed for them. He touched them. He loved them. He died for them. His message was simple.

I have never been a believer of labels. Each soul is a human being before he/she is anything else.
Each soul is an imperfect human being. It is not my right or place to judge. I don't have the whole picture of the life of another or of God's plan. I only know we are created to love Him & to love others as ourselves. Some will say that you judge the fruits of a person, not the person, & therefore justify their judgement. I have trouble judging my own fruits let alone the fruits of another whose shoes I have not worn for a day. I shutter to call this population the LGBT population because I am so against labels. Rather, I prefer to say that they are imperfect human beings just as I am & are all  human beings. They deserve to be loved. They have souls, & I believe each human being is worthy of being used by God. They are worthy of sitting in a pew, being a part of the community we call Church, & being used by God.

3 comments:

  1. Thank you Susie... Remember the WWJD bracelets from a few years ago? That is my question these days. What Would Jesus Do?

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