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.
First of all, I was created unique from anyone who has ever lived or ever will live. Also, I like to make up really strange dance moves. Dancing horribly is something I am remarkably good at. I have treed a squirrel. Like, without the help of a hunting dog- just treed it on my own. I chased it for a few minutes, chirping at it in what I hoped was a macho-squirrel manner, until it finally became afraid for it’s life. I can sing like a male opera singer. Quite well, believe it or not. It’s surprisingly addictive, and when I start doing it subconsciously in public places things can get very awkward very fast. However, it takes a lot to embarass me. I try to make a habit or embarassing myself regularly enough that embarassment doesn’t put a damper on my day. I have this wonderful ability to talk in a very annoying, squeaky voice- lots of people can do this, but I can laugh in that voice, and the sound of it makes me laugh harder, and so forth. It’s great. I can go fr...
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