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So you think you love God
It has been said that "Death is a punishment for wrong doers."
If this is true, I must conclude plants, animals and the entire Universe are wrong doers too.
But stop and think for a moment, if it were not for death, Adam and Eve and we too would have nothing to eat. If it weren't for death, the Earth would be wall to wall people and we would be worse off than people on a subway at 5 p.m.
So I ask this. Would you still love God if death were just a natural part of life? Would you still love God if death is just the end and there were no life beyond death? Is your ability to love God limited by the idea that you will have an afterlife in Heaven? Is your love of God so shallow that it depends upon you constantly being rewarded for "being good?"
I would suggest that a love that is always bought and paid for isn't much of a love. It's no better than the love a man gets from a prostitute he has bought and paid for.
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Would you still love God if death were just a natural part of life? Many times death IS a natural part of life. It does not change or lessen my Love for my God. Would you still love God if death is just the end and there were no life beyond death? Of course! Is your ability to love God limited by the idea that you will have an afterlife in Heaven? My ability to love was created by God to be within every human. My choice to Love God is no different than my choice to love anything else. My choice to LOVE a spouse, and know that spouse loves me; the reward is to be together under the same roof, with the same feelings for each-other. God offers the same reward. He loves me, I love Him. We already SHARE the same love for each-other. He notifies me that He has prepared a place (Heaven), that we shall one day share. (same concept as under one roof) Is your love of God so shallow that it depends upon you constantly being rewarded for "being good?" Why would it bother you that God has chosen to mightly bless those who Love Him?...... Really? You think it is shallow (WEAK).....to be GOOD to someone who has been GOOD to you?
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Rachel I was almost with you all the way until the very end when you seem to have thought I believe there is any weakness in being good. My only intent was to point out how "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" is not what being good or loving is all about. |
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"My only intent was to point out how "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" is not what being good or loving is all about." Your example is an example of TEMPTATION. Who is the first to benefit? YOU. Who would have to trust your word? Me What evidence do I have YOUR WORD is trustworthy? NONE God GAVE first and freely to my benefit. He identified many things He freely gave to me. His WORD is already proved WORTHY. As I trust in HIS WORD, while I am on earth, I am given because of my faith, His grace of many things. He is LOVING toward me and I choose to be the same toward Him.....and our relationship is of LOVE and TRUST and therefore GOOD. God freely LOVES everyone. God freely GIVES benefits to everyone. Not everyone chooses to LOVE Him, and many choose to Hate Him. And at a point in time, He will not withdrawal His Love, but He will withdrawal His benefits. |
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I don't have the audacity to speak for G-d---He/She can do His/Her job without me and seems to have done it for many years, death included. |
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Good post! Even talking just about motivation: what would we do if our objects of desire weren't wrenched from us? (For example, I loved my mom, but now she's dead, and "for this reason man will leave his parents and be united with a wife") We'd be in paradise, right? Sounds like a shallow horror, a slice of hell. It would be a mockery, after being so debauched by sorrow. Humans have emerged dynamic like diamonds, deepened by sorrow, and the wisdom from those experiences are like sweet water at the bottom of a well. I think these are themes that are (were) central to the widsom traditions that now seem to be totally absent in a lot of Christianity. It's almost as if we're not allowed to awcknowledge the tragic element in existence. It's all joy and sunshine since Christ died. He "took away the tragedy of the world", and the fact that people believe that is tragic. They're missing out on the sweet sadness, on the sweet sadness that comes from wisdom. On top of that, I feel that a large part of the message of contemporary Christianity is "don't even engage in the tragic, just believe in Christ and you've got a ticket to heaven". How anti-Christian. |
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One of the mistakes our society makes is to believe death is the worst possible thing that can happen when time and time again people in physical or mental pain would strongly disagree. This is true for people who are oppressed and will take any risk, even risking death, to be free. I remember my grandmother who was in her 90's in a nursing home and said to me the last time I saw her, "I don't know why god keeps me alive."
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One of the mistakes our society makes is to believe death is the worst possible thing that can happen when time and time again people in physical or mental pain would strongly disagree. Most of society concerns themselves with a FLESH DEATH....the only one trying to save the FLESH is man.....God is more concerned with the Spirit Life, which the absense of that is DEATH.
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i rather live believing that there is a god and die to find out there isnt than to live like theres none and find out there is.. Death is a way of life. God says this is a temporary home. when you die your spirit goes to where you belong.. thats youre permanent home. Death is not a reason to hate God and thats where so many people go wrong. |
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I'll second your opinion/belief. Positive is always better than negative. |
It has been said that "Death is a punishment for wrong doers."
If this is true, I must conclude plants, animals and the entire Universe are wrong doers too.
Death of the flesh is has nothing to do with plants.
Death of the flesh is because of sin, and will occur naturally, or because of disease or killing........and flesh pertains to humans and animals.
In addition to flesh, humans, unlike animals, have a Spirit. A Spirit in a human, that is NOT ALIVE, is DEAD.
A human having a DEAD Spirit, is their choice.
They CHOOSE to not have the HOLY SPIRIT in them.
A Believer would find SEPARATION from GOD as a punishment, be they in an earthly life or an after life.
A person with a DEAD SPIRIT, CHOOSES to be separated from GOD in their earthly life..........and will receive the same in their afterlife...........So HOW ARE THEY PUNISHED? They are getting what they chose.
And LIVE SPIRITS, in the flesh, get what they choose while in the flesh on earth, and in their afterlife. How are they punished? They are getting what they chose.