Love Rules Religion and an Apology.
I believe everyone everywhere wants to believe in something, especially love. Who wouldn’t? It’s the wonder of life!
The only problem is belief in love can be messy, and hurtful.
As a Christian, Jesus is who I believe in. The following sentences do not include a convincing argument for why you, the reader, should believe. They instead contain an apology for putting the lid on the force that revolves our world. Love.
That being said, I think Jesus is Love. Yet religion, and myself included do a poor job representing that. The Jesus of the Bible says to me that “Love conquers all”. Love is many things and to name a few it is: kind, humble, not irritable, and strong to bear all; never failing. Love is inclusive, relational, and accepting. It is not rude and doesn’t seek its own way. The King James Bible describes love as “charity”, and charity is always free.
Doesn’t that sound appealing? Wouldn’t everyone everywhere want to be loved like that? Wouldn’t you want to love those closest to you that way? That is Jesus to me. No matter my circumstance, situation or scenario God wants to have a relationship with me. God wants to help me. God loves me.
So, I’m sorry if I’ve made Jesus something he’s not. And I’m sorry for the church at times putting walls and rules around Jesus. I’m sorry these walls and rules are the penance (cost) for love. That is not love because love is free.
For context, and my fellow Christians, let’s discuss rules. The Bible has them and so does love. Love contains rules for the benefit of the beloved not to shame them. For example, most parents love their children. And most parents would agree children should NOT to play in the street… for obvious reasons. If the child did play in the road, the parent still loves the child. The little one doesn’t need to follow the rule to receive love. In fact, the rule exists because the child IS loved. This is the same reason rules exist in the Bible, to protect us from heartache not to harm our hearts. #GodBlessLove