Skip to main content

This is going to be disjointed.

  I believe that God’s grace is actually sufficient.  For everyone. And everything. No matter how horrible, how unimaginably cruel, how disgusting. Sin is sin. I am no better than a rapist. I am no better than a murderer. I am no better than anyone else. I feel the full weight of that as I type it- the fact that I am not worth more than someone who would rape an innocent human being is horrifying to me. And yet it is true. My sins are no more acceptable than that.
  And I do not think that it is alright for me to hate someone because their sin is more horrifying to me than my own sin. First of all, my own sin should disgust me- it is, after all, dirty and ugly and real- and I should fully realize that I am only free from it NOT BY OWN MERIT but by the grace of God.
  I am not free from my sins because I had a good upbringing. It’s not because I go to church. It’s not because I vote right or help old ladies at the grocery store or am nice to people. It’s because Christ paid for my sins so that I don’t have to. Christ DIED for my sins so that I don’t have to.
  And so, logically, if my sin is as ugly as ALL sin and nothing about ME frees me from that sin, I am no better than anyone else. And if I am no better than anyone else…then I can’t hate them.
  Hate is ugly. It takes root in your heart and it hangs on tightly, growing into crevices like a weed. There is nothing honorable about hatred. If I hate someone for committing a murder, I AM SINNING. Their sin is still very real, and very horrible- but so is mine. Equally so.
  I am not excusing what is wrong. Rape, murder- these are hideous, hideous acts that should continued to be punishable by law. I am not arguing with that. I am simply saying that I cannot hate someone for doing something like that. I can- and, I believe, should- hate what they did. I can hate that sin, and mourn the damage it has caused. But by no means does another persons sin give me license to hate that person.

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I love you so much, and I am completely devoted to you, and I know that you’re the man God had for me to marry- BUT, even if none of that was true, there are still hundreds of good reasons for me to marry you. And this fudge is two of them. My eternal thankfulness when Arthur made me fudge
Post a Comment
Read more

Pause Before You Post: Representing yourself responsibly and honestly online

  When I was about eleven years old I went to summer camp for the first time. Before my sister and I left, my mother talked to us about something. She explained that we needed to mindful of our behavior at camp, not only because it is important to be kind and respectful, but also because we would be a representation of both our family and Christ to the people around us. That stuck with me.   Now, with so many of us daily browsing and posting to social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, and blogs such as this, our representation is no longer limited to the people we are around in person- it is far-reaching, even global at times. It is certainly a far more widespread representation of yourself to post on the internet than it is to say something in person; on the internet, the dozens or hundreds of people you are connected with may see it. That is an enormous audience.   I feel very strongly that we need to be mindful of that audience, of that re...
Post a Comment
Read more
Sometimes I look at other girls and wonder how they get such perfect curls in their hair. Then I remember that they get up early and curl it. I just get up late, squint at the mirror, and say “Please be curly, please be curly!” Well, THERE’S your problem.
Post a Comment
Read more