Q & R — But why, though?

-

A friend posed a question on social media asking what’s the reason and purpose we follow the commandments and tenets of our faith. I replied:

“To love all, serve all, forgive all, and create no sorrow.”

To which I was asked, “But why?”

And here’s my reply:

The short answer? Because the love of Christ compels me.

The long answer? Because I believe that God is Love (1 John 4.8).[1] That the God of all creation was embodied (somehow, mystically) in the person of Jesus of Nazareth (Colossians 1.15; NLT).[2] That through Jesus’ life and death, God reconciled the world to Godself (2 Corinthians 5.19; Colossians 1.19-20) and started the rescue of all creation. That through him, God continues to work through people and has given humanity the job of extending that life, love, and rescue to all others — humans and non-humans alike (1 Corinthians 3.9; 2 Corinthians 6.1). That God’s “ultimate future” is “someday” all of creation will become one with God’s Realm of Love, Peace, and Justice (Revelation 21.1-5). That those who follow Jesus of Nazareth are called, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to be about doing good works of loving kindness, justice, and forgiveness to help bring that future into the present (1 Corinthians 15.58; 3.10-15). And to do that, we have to “love others just as [Jesus] has loved [us]” (John 13.34; 15.12) because “love is what fulfills the Law” (Romans 13.10; Galatians 5.14).

This, my friends, is what compels me to look at the world differently. In the face of all people I see sisters and brothers made in God’s image (Genesis 1.26-27). And when I look at creation, I see God’s glory for all things have the Light of God within them (John 1.4-5; Psalm 19.1; Romans 1.20).

I extend the original question to you, dear friend — what compels you to follow your faith and how does that impact your actions toward others and creation?



~~~
In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

_________
[1] Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations and references are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.

[2] Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation, Inc. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Linux Mint 5

-
Image
It's been a while since I did a technological (read: geek) blog, so I thought I would update you on what's going on. As you are aware, I am a full-fledged geek by trade and passion and I have gone from Windows to Mac to Linux.  My Linux evolution went from Linspire to Mepis to PCLinuxOS to Ubuntu .  I stayed with PCLinuxOS and Ubuntu for the longest.  However, I have always read good things about another distribution called Linux Mint .  It's based on the latest Ubuntu release but with a lot of add-ons.  The latest version is called Linux Mint 5, Elyssa.  So, at the office, I downloaded the latest iso and tried it out to see how it all worked. First of all, there are always some things I keep in mind when trying any new Linux distro, the primary thing being, 'How would the average user feel about using this OS?'  'Is it (very) simple to install?  Is it easy to use?  Is it easy to get help?  Is it easy to add or remove applications?  Is the terminal (command ...
Read more

The OS Problem

-
I recently purchased a new laptop.  It's a Gateway M-6843 .  It's wonderful!  The very first thing I did, of course, was install Ubuntu 8.04.1 .  I plugged in the laptop and booted from the Ubuntu CD and clicked the install icon.  After about a week, I saw this blog detailing how this person got a refund from HP because he didn't want to use Windows Vista.  So, I started the process with Gateway.  It's been about a week and it's going to be a long process.  Customer Support at Gateway gave me the run-around so I am in the process of writing a letter to the Corporate Office. The reason for all of this is because of the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) from Microsoft.  According to the EULA, if I choose not to use Vista, I should contact the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM, in my case this would be Gateway) for a refund or credit.  But this begs the question: Why don't people get this option before buying the system?  That is, instead of having the cust...
Read more

Series: New Testament Eschatology

-
Image
From time to time, I hear a lot about the early church’s understanding of the “end of the world” or their belief that the “Second Coming of Jesus” would take place within their generation. And it’s usually not in a very good light. “They were obviously mistaken,” is often the remark I hear most. I know it’s hard to imagine but what if we’re mistaken? What if we’ve misunderstood what they meant? I’m hoping that this series on some of the major statements from the New Testament about the “end of the world” will show that they weren’t mistaken in their understanding of the “signs of the times.” Before we begin, however, let’s look at some terms that will have to be used. As most of you know, I try to refrain from using big “church” words. My reason for this is because those words are like suitcases where ideas and thoughts and understandings are packed into them. To explain the words would mean a long time spent unpacking the suitcases and explaining their contents. While such a pil...
Read more