It's just who I am.

You may have heard the above slogan. It sounds good at first blush but are there any problems with it? 

Once we say our desires alone define who we are and what is or isn't legitimate behavior, then any desire goes. 

If I desire young children sexually or animals or even dead people (yes there are folks that are attracted to this. It's called necrophilia), then it is OK because that's just who I am and how I feel.

Of course, these are extreme examples to illustrate a point. It becomes apparent there must be something other than desires that determine right and wrong behavior.

If we say desire and consent alone is the determining factor for what is right and wrong, then it's OK for two people to consent to kill a third person simply because they want to. Majority rules, right? 

But if the third person doesn't agree or consent, do their feelings matter? They also have feelings don't they? 

That is the beauty of the US government system. Technically we are a republic, not a democracy, which means the majority doesn't rule, the law does. Even if someone is at odds with the majority, they still have rights because those rights are based on law given by the Creator. Our founders agreed that there is absolute and objective morality/law. Morality is not subjective - i.e. based solely on our feelings or desires - but on some objective standard outside of us. 

When we worship at the altar of self, eventually anything goes as long as self is fulfilled. This assumes that there is no fulfillment outside of self-gratification. But what if there is?

If we are broken and offered a solution but refuse it, that is a choice we are responsible for - and we all are broken in different ways. For some the manifestation of that brokenness is more obvious and less socially acceptable than others i.e. It's a matter of kind and extent of our brokenness, not whether we are or are not. 

If we are offered greater fulfillment outside of our preferred manner of fulfillment but refuse it, that does not make the offer inadequate, illegitimate or unreal, it simply means we refuse the offer.

What defines someone being whole versus being broken? The Creator and Designer of that someone.
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For a discussion on the basis for morality click here.

For a definition of sin and the necessity of judgment click here.

Is God angry at evil?

Is God angry at ¹evil? Absolutely! If he were not angry about one person abusing another he would not be loving to the one being abused. Injustice is a real thing. Justice matters to God because we matter to God. 

God is just if only because it is wrong to hurt another. We know this is true instinctively and all too well, especially when we are harmed and abused and on the "short end" of being mistreated. The essence of the 10 commandments is treating others as they - and we - ²ought and wish to be treated. Whether that involves God in the first 4 commandments or our fellow humans in the last 6.

In addition, treating others in an unloving fashion matters to the mistreated and also to God himself. Why? Because we bear His image and He therefore greatly loves/values us. To hurt one of us is like a slap in the very face of God. It would be like someone defacing or destroying the Mona Lisa (currently valued at over $780 million). Leonardo da Vinci (or the present owner) would not be too happy if they did, would he?

The beauty and wonder of God is He knew we could never repay others for all the damage (marred pictures) we caused. His love for us is so great that he took out his anger for our abuse of others upon himself, in and through the death of Christ. He did this out of his deep love for those who are like him to spare us from having to go through this ourselves. 

The just consequences of our mistreatment of others fell on Christ. If this isn't love, nothing is. Because of Christ, we are no longer required to pay for all the pictures we have (or yet may) marred and damaged. God did this for us.  

And as important as all that is, that is only half of it. He also offers to credit us fully with Christ's life of perfect faithfulness of loving God and others in exchange for our life of unfaithfulness... if we will accept his offer.

For a related discussion on the necessity of judgment, click here. 

For a further discussion on God assigning his righteousness to us, click here. 
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¹Evil - רַע   (pronounced ra) (948c) in the Old Testament Hebrew; from the same as H7455; evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity: 

— adversity (7), calamity (4), disaster (2), evil (94), harm (2), harmful (1), hurt (1), ruin (3), surely (1), trouble (2), unpleasant (1), wickedly (1), wickedness (1).

²By the way, who is the nut job that came up with this notion that there is no right or wrong and morality is a myth? We know in our gut this isn't true. This is why movies like Star Wars are so popular around the world. Instinctively humanity believes there is good vs evil no matter what your world view or religion. This is also why treating others as we wish to be treated resonates with us and is echoed in all religions.

What is growth?

What is growth? Is acquiring new knowledge, new facts, new data or new information about God, growth? This is "growing" in a sense. We are increasing information; the amount of facts and data that we have in our memory banks so to speak is greater. 

But what is growth for the Christian? Isn't it much more than gathering more or new facts? It is in fact something very different. It is an increase in confidence and trust in God as a result of experiencing the infinite love of God, which is a matter of the heart and not our heads. 

We must not just know the right things about God, we must believe the right things. 

The mind is engaged in the process of gathering new information but it is only a means to engaging the heart, moving the heart, evaluating the lack of trust and love in our heart. True growth is growth in the heart which is the result of an increase in our trust and faith in God. 

To say it another way, there is a difference between gathering information and acquiring wisdom. Wisdom is applied knowledge and requires faith in applying that knowledge. 

Filling our heads with information about God is not the same thing as trusting aka * "knowing" God in the biblical sense. 

We often confuse great knowledge with great trust/faith. The former is necessary to reach the latter and can result in increased faith, but they are separate things. You can have the former, and a ton of it, without ever obtaining the latter. 

The church is full of people who know much (and are usually arrogant and self-righteous because of it) but trust and therefore love God or others little.

The truest indicator of knowing in the biblical sense is humility, not arrogance. 

Certainly knowing the correct facts/information is important. If we believe the wrong things it will lead us in the wrong direction e.g. If you think you need to go south when you actually need to go north, you'll wind up in the wrong place. But the facts alone (even about God) will not necessarily change us. Only trusting, believing and than acting in faith regarding them will. We can have the perfect road-map but if we don't trust it and use it, it will do us no good and we will never reach our destination. 

• For more on the challenges for the church of being puffed with by knowledge click here. 
• For more on growth click here.

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* know - γινώσκω, ginōskō

Thayer Definition:

1) to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel

1a) to become known

2) to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of

2a) to understand

2b) to know

3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse between a man and a woman

4) to become acquainted with, to know

Note that knowing in the above sense involves relationship, such as what is involved in sexual intercourse. This is obviously more then just information.

A derivation of the above is 

ἐπιγινώσκω - epiginōskō 

epi is a preposition that generally means: upon, on, at, by, before and add's more focus and direction to the word "know." 

Thayer Definition:

1) to become thoroughly acquainted with, to know thoroughly

1a) to know accurately, know well

2) to know

2a) to recognise

2a1) by sight, hearing, of certain signs, to perceive who a person is

2b) to know, i.e. to perceive

2c) to know, i.e. to find out, ascertain

2d) to know, i.e. to understand

Epiginosko is the main variation the bible uses when talking about knowing God. 

Free will?

I find human behavior fascinating, my own included e.g. "...why did I do THAT?!"

In light of this I found the following video thought provoking.

This demonstrates that even though we have a "free will" -- i.e. everyone in this experment made their own "free" choice to stand - our wills are heavily (if not completely) influenced by our need for acceptance/approval/love -- or at least what we BELIEVE we must do, to acquire or achieve these.

When our identity is strongly anchored in Christ and we know he loves me no matter what I go through or what others think, do or say, we are not as easily swayed. In fact, if our identity/sense of who we are is soundly rooted/grounded in him, I would suggest we will be swayed very little if at all. (This is likely why dictatorships do not like "religious" beliefs and most aggressively try to oppress and outlaw Christianity and other faiths. People who look to a higher source for their identity are not as easily influenced by a dictators threats because we are more influenced by God).

How much of your behavior is dictated by what OTHERS think, do or say? e.g. When the polls go contrary to your views, does that affect you and make you reconsider your position. If not, you either are very principled with clear, strong convictions or you have a strong personality and are more a leader than a follower. If you are anchored in Christ this will instill in you a strength you did not have before to do what you are convinced (believe) is right in the face of opposition. The expression "having a backbone" comes to mind. This is the essence of leadership; courage in the face of great opposition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8BkzvP19v4

Influencing our choices?

In light of the above video, if you have ever wondered whether news is controlled... in some way or another...just a little bit...maybe not a lot...etc, the below video might be a clue.

Also notice the topic of these reports in the below second video. Does it sound like someone might be concerned about the economy? This raises the thorny questions of WHO is concerned and how exactly are they influencing these reports.

This of course also raises the question of what else are we being told (or not told) to get us to act one way verses another. Hmmm, free will indeed. Just some food for thought.

Note also these are not from national news sources  i.e. the "control" goes all the way down to the local level and not just at the national level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM8L7bdwVaA

But wait! It's all probably just a coincidence, right?!

For a discussion on how our "wanter" is broken and not our "chooser" click here. 

Why, in Gods name, does He love us!?!

Does God love us based on who he is or on who we are?

If by who we are we mean what we do or don't do, no. This is not the grounds on which we are loved. Nothing we can or will ever do will cause God to love us.

Is there anything about us that God loves? Yes there is but it has nothing to do with our doing anything. It has everything to do with how God made us i.e. our being; who we are. 

We are in his image i.e. like God, and he loves this *about us (and therefore loves us; who we are). Why? Because we are able to enter into and participate in the beatific love of the Father, Son and Spirit and reflect that relational infinite love back to him as well as out to other of God's beloved Image bearers, along with all the rest of His highly valued and beloved creation. 

(Let us remember that after each act/day of creation God said it was good. And when he finally created mankind (male and female), the crown of his creation, he said it was all very good).

So going back to the original question on whether God loves us because of who he is or who we are, both are true. But the latter is based on and springs out of the former. So in this sense God loves us because of who God is first and foremost. 

If God were not who he was first (and had not made us the way we are as bearers of his image) there would be no love. No love within God first and therefore no love going out to all of creation in general and his image bearers in particular. Everything is based on and grounded in God being Father, Son and Spirit in blissful and loving relationship from all eternity past. And by virtue of being created as his image bearers, we are able to fully participate in this beatific union.

"And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent... I made known to them your name, and I will continue (by His Spirit) to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them." - the very last words of Jesus at the last supper right before his arrest and crucifixion. Joh 17:3, 26

* in fact both we and Christ are in the image of the Father. Christ is the eternal image and only begotten Son. [ Col 1:15; 2Cor 4:4; Heb 1:3 ] We are the created image and adopted sons and daughters in Christ. This is why Christ's is called our brother.

Freed in Christ… Both ways!

In Christ we are freed in two ways. 

* We are freed from the condemnation of our failure to love God and others as we are designed. A failure that keeps us in a subtle but constant state of guilt and shame (for more discussion on why we experience constant guilt and shame click here). 

This is a change of status or standing before God which is based solely on Christs efforts and performance instead of ours.

* We are also freed from addictions and destructive behavior by these being replaced with something exceedingly and infinitely more satisfying and captivating.

At the heart of addiction is a longing to ease pain and to acquire pleasure. However what we usually seek does not work and even harms and sometimes destroys us.

We need something that is constant, lasting, fulfilling, life-giving (not life taking),.. in short we need infinite, eternal love. 

Infinite love only comes from an infinite, eternal source. The infinite eternal source of God himself in and through Christ.

The first freedom comes from a change of status or standing. The second results in a change of our day to day behavior. The second springs forth out of the first and occurs only when the first is clearly understood and believed. 

#Love #Captivating #Eternal #ThoughtsAboutGod #ThotsAboutGod

Does "sin" matter?

Does our sin -- distrust/unbelief --matter?

Regarding God's love for us, our sin/distrust has absolutely no bearing and no longer matters. If we are in Christ we are totally and fully loved. His commitment to us is fixed, unmovable and relentless.

Regarding our fully experiencing this relentless, never ending, and unconditional love, our sin/distrust absolutely matters and has total bearing.

A loving parent never stops loving and desiring the best for his or her child no matter how badly they mess up.

An untrusting and disobedient child however pulls away and alienates themselves from their parents love and does not fully participate in and experience the fullness of it. 

Distrust hinders the child's maturing and growing up to be the best they are capable of being for their own joy, good, and the parent's delight. A loving parent always seeks to bring out the best in their child and for their child.

God is certainly no different. In fact, he is the perfect parent. Unlike our human parents, God is perfect in love, perfect in wisdom, unlimited in ability, possessing all the resources to bring about our best, and is always with us no matter how much we turn away from Him. 

Are you a child of God? If so, you are fully and infinitely loved, no strings attached. This is a fixed and unchanging reality.

Do you trust your heavenly Father completely in every area of your life? Do you believe He is always for you, for your highest good and not your harm? If not, you are missing out on fully experiencing the infinite love God, your perfect heavenly Father, has for you.

By not understanding and distinguishing each (how our sin matters and doesn't matter) from the other, we miss out on fully benefiting from both.

Does sin matter, part II

#love #Unbelief #Trust #thotsAboutGod #ThoughtsAboutGod