The Greatest Commandment: Love One Another

God's Greatest Commandment: Love One Another

For starters, let me just say that this post is coming after having watched the Bruce Jenner interview.  Having watched it, it touched on some real emotions and I just felt led to say my piece.  

I am a southern girl.  Born and raised here in the Bible belt, we are raised with strong religious beliefs and I'm so thankful for the morals I learned throughout my childhood.  I believe that it was being raised with a strong foundation in faith and God's love that has made me the person I am today and while that's not perfect and there's still a lot of work to be done, I'm pretty proud of the woman I have become.  

Recently in Alabama a huge thing happened that I never thought that in my lifetime I would see.  A judge made a decision that she knew would be a controversial one, she made it legal for a gay couple to become a legal married couple.  I was so so very proud of my state.

Not Everyone Was Happy

I have to say, I was ashamed and embarrassed by many of the things I read and saw after that huge court decision to legalize gay marriage.  One of my cousin's posted the question about "Should individuals reserve the right to refuse service to gay couples getting married".  I guess I shouldn't have been shocked, after all, I was raised here and I know the strong religious beliefs that are held by many.

Back in the nineties there was a HUGE explosion.  It was a bracelet with the letters "WWJD" meaning, "What Would Jesus Do?".  For me, it became a deep seeded thought process.  

Thou Shalt Not Judge...

There are so  many scriptures that talk about showing God's love and how we are called upon to love one another.  There are also many scriptures that teach us that it is not our job to judge, but our father in Heaven.

We may not understand or agree with the choices other people make, but it's not our job to.  Our job is not to condemn those who are hurting, but to show them God's grace and compassion.

There is NONE Righteous, NO not one.

Other than my father in Heaven who sent his son, Jesus to this world to live as a man and to die as a man, there has never been anyone on this earth who is without sin.

Therefore, we all deserve nothing.  All we deserve is hell.  However, God didn't want that.  He wanted to give us the gift of life!  So he provided us a way, he sent his own son to live like we do and to show God's love in a human form.  That's because he LOVES us ALL and is a merciful God.  Jesus is God's grace.

Bruce Jenner...

So, going back to the subject that triggered this post in the first place.  Bruce Jenner.  I will admit, I was so shocked when I caught something about him wanting to transition into a woman.  I probably even laughed about it.  I believe because of the Kardashian clan and the belief that they are just attention seeking and media hungry, no one really took Bruce seriously and just felt this was another "Media Ploy".

However, after watching the Bruce Jenner interview, I better grasp the true human side to this story.  This isn't about a man who broke records, who was a character in a reality show, this was / is a person who has been struggling his whole life with something that for most of us we can't even grasp or begin to imagine.  I saw a man who was real and who was scared and who was hurting.

How dare we as a society judge him and who he is?  My heart goes out to his whole family.  I can't judge Kris or the girls for how they are reacting, they too are humans and this has to be so incredibly hard for anyone, but especially those who are his family.

I applaud Bruce for getting the courage up to allow us in and to share his story with us.  It couldn't have been easy.  For someone who became known for their "Manliness" and for being a "Man of all Men" persona, how incredibly difficult and gut wrenching it had to have been for him to see himself portrayed as this "God like Man" when he knew that what he felt was so different than the man the world saw.  He became a hero and a God like figure for the American people, for him to make a huge change he knew that it would truly effect many.  Yet, he also finally realized that there were some who could benefit from the courage to be who he is and for sharing his story.

I respect that he wanted to shield his children from the pain that his choice would make and for understanding that his choice to change wasn't a choice that would only effect himself but everyone in his life he loved.  

I can't imagine that this is easy for any of them, but I imagine that it's probably most difficult for Kris, a woman who has orchestrated this whole "Media frenzy" that they now find themselves.  I pray that God will give her peace and understanding and that she can begin to heal and to accept Bruce for who he is.

God Makes NO Mistakes...

I believe that we are all created in God's image.  I also believe that God has a plan for each and every one of us, while we may struggle to find our place in this world and a purpose, I believe that ultimately in God's perfect plan for our lives there is always a path he creates for us.

While I can't even begin to understand the question "Why God?".  I don't understand why some people are born and are able to lead lives where they don't truly have to struggle and yet others seem to barely be able to survive through all the storms in their lives.

I don't understand why some people are born with mental or physical defects, but I know this, it does happen.  There are mental illnesses people struggle with everyday.  Perhaps it all goes back to when Adam and Eve first sinned and brought upon us all the sinful nature we all are born with, perhaps that's why there isn't perfection in this world.

If we can live in a world where diseases are a normal occurrence, is it also not possible that people are truly "Born" different?  

Not a Spokesperson..

I'm so not a spokesperson for the LGBT community.  I am just sharing as a Christian the things that I feel and the thoughts that I'm dealing with.

I just feel that we are COMMANDED by God to love one another.  Not play God, Judge and Jury.  We don't have to agree with other's choices but we don't have to judge them either.  I remember a story in the Bible where Jesus shocked the disciples when Jesus knelt at the feet of a prostitute and washed her feet.  Why did he do that?  Did he agree with the way she lived her life?  Absolutely not.  It's called GRACE.  He had compassion on her and wanted to SHOW God's love by his actions.

Are we better than Jesus?  Should we as Christians treat those not like us differently?  If you are a business owner who runs a cake company and a gay couple comes in and asks you to make them a cake for their wedding, WHO ARE YOU to say "No, I can't because I don't agree with gay marriage"?  Is that what you would believe Jesus would do?

We are all called to be a light in this world and to show God's love by the way we live our lives.  We aren't perfect and we are going to make mistakes, but we should strive for a higher purpose. 

Let Your Light Shine

I urge my fellow Christians to not judge other's.  I found for myself that for every judgement I have made on someone else, I have literally had to walk a mile in their shoes.  Judging others is a dangerous business.  

It is our duty as God's children to show the world through our lives and by example the love and grace that God gives us.  It is only ONLY by his grace that we are saved.  

Judge not that ye be Judged.  

Beloved.  Let us love one another, for love is of God and anyone who loveth is born of God and knoweth God.  

I know that this is so different than anything that I typically write about, but I really felt led to share this.