{"id":2456,"date":"2022-10-16T16:43:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T23:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/?p=2456"},"modified":"2022-10-16T16:43:12","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T23:43:12","slug":"god-really-loves-us-despite-how-things-might-sometimes-appear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/?p=2456","title":{"rendered":"God Really Loves Us Despite How Things Might Sometimes Appear"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>4 Minute, 49 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n

The past 2-1\/2 years have been particularly marked with suffering.  First, many lost their lives to the pandemic or suffered the loss of a loved one, then came the emotional\/mental health impact of the necessary COVID precautions (shelter in place, online versus physical meetings\/classes, etc.).  Now, in addition to the aftermath of the pandemic, we are facing new challenges including geopolitical tensions\/war, draught, hurricanes, etc.  The list goes on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These situations clearly beg the question, \u201cWhy?\u201d , as they should.  And the answer isn\u2019t clear.  Hence, we\u2019re left to our faith and the Holy Spirit to guide us.  If we would only apply our faith, intelligence, and knowledge, then I\u2019d be most confident that all roads would lead to Rome (i.e., we\u2019d all come to the same basic and correct conclusion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, distractions of our earthly world abound.\u00a0 Some well-intended Christians are asserting that we brought our problems on ourselves via our sinful nature.\u00a0 Although there might<\/strong> be an element of truth to this, I strongly believe it is not the case by and large.\u00a0 Instead, I believe it\u2019s much more likely to be due to one or more of several common rabbit holes.\u00a0 These are explained in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mistakes we sometimes make<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. As Christians, we are taught to always strive to be righteous and to reject everything that isn\u2019t.\u00a0 This is very true, and we should always do exactly this.\u00a0 However, there is a highly-important detail that we sometimes miss \u2013 to separate the sin from the sinner.\u00a0 Matthew 22:34-40<\/a> states God\u2019s desires quite clearly.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the punchline: The first two of the 10 commandments are the most important and form the basis of the other 8.\u00a0 They are a) \u201cYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.\u201d\u00a0and b) \u201cYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u201d\u00a0 Failure to do these two fundamental \u2013 but sometimes difficult \u2013 things might very well be our greatest sin. So why are we so quick to reject others who sin?\u00a0 We need to stop doing that, and instead, lovingly rebuke them and lead them to the right path.\u00a0 IOW, we should help others succeed rather than reject or marginalize them when they fail.\u00a0 This means we should also allow others to do the same for us, and to openly appreciate it when they do.<\/li>
  2. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking and acting as though we have somehow earned the privilege of salvation via our repentance, but the truth is none of us have earned it, and none of us are even capable of earning it.\u00a0 It is 100% a gift from God.\u00a0 So, who are we to put ourselves above anyone else? In fact, Jesus was very hard on the scribes and Pharisees (who were actually well-intended and wanted to help people) when they put doctrine above love and Jesus’ teachings.\u00a0 Jesus tried very hard to help them understand the error in their ways, but they dug in and didn’t listen to Him.\u00a0 Today, we seem to have the same situation with the \u201cholier than thou\u201d mentality and people on social media saying that God hates us and has abandoned us.\u00a0 This is definitely not true, as God would never<\/strong> abandon us, so long as we don\u2019t abandon Him.<\/li>
  3. We erroneously jump to the conclusion that, when natural disasters, war, etc. happen that it is God\u2019s direct response to our sinful nature.\u00a0 I have a separate post entitled \u201cWhy Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to Good People<\/a>?\u201d that tells a completely different story.\u00a0 The essence is that God is always<\/strong> with us and that these things happen for our ultimate good.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The truth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    God loves us. There is no ambiguity to this.  He has proved it unequivocally by having Jesus (God’s one-and-only son) pay the ultimate price for all of our sins. In return, we just need to believe in Jesus, follow Jesus, and make a good faith effort to live as perfectly as we can. When we mess up (make mistakes\/sin) and ask forgiveness, His complete forgiveness will most likely be granted. Because God loves us, He is looking for reasons to accept us, not reject us (John 3:17<\/a>: “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    However, God does hate sin. God is perfect, and God sets the standard. We chronically fall short of that standard \u2013 all of us. That’s why He sent Jesus to rescue us \u2013 from ourselves. Meanwhile, He does hate sin and He admonishes us all to turn away from sin and encourage others to do likewise, for the purpose of leveraging us to help other people get saved. This is where we sometimes get confused. We are called to reject sin but to love the sinner, as Jesus did with the sinners and tax collectors. It\u2019s all too easy for well-intended Christians to not understand this distinction and assume that God rejects both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Reality is nothing could be further from the truth, as God has already paid for our sins via the crucifixion\/death of Jesus Christ on the cross. This is our wonderful inheritance. We just need to believe it, claim it, repent from sin as best we can, and then leave the rest to God. At that point, God, Himself, will take it from there and will be the one-and-only ultimate judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I believe it\u2019s really that simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Does anyone have any differing or additional thoughts on this?<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n \n
    \n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
    \n Happy <\/div>\n
    \n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
    \n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
    \n Sad <\/div>\n
    \n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
    \n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
    \n Excited <\/div>\n
    \n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
    \n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
    \n Sleepy <\/div>\n
    \n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
    \n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
    Angry<\/div>\n
    \n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
    \n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
    Surprise<\/div>\n
    \n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The past 2-1\/2 years have been particularly marked with suffering.  First, many lost their lives to the pandemic or suffered the loss of a loved one, then came the emotional\/mental health impact of the necessary COVID precautions (shelter in place, online versus physical meetings\/classes, etc.).  Now, in addition to the aftermath of the pandemic, we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[85],"tags":[327,318,326,319,323,325,322,321,317,324,320],"class_list":["post-2456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-editor","tag-god-came-to-save-us","tag-god-loves-us","tag-gods-gift-of-salvation","tag-gods-greatest-commandments","tag-gods-punnishment","tag-gods-response-to-sin","tag-gods-wrath","tag-how-we-know-god-loves-us","tag-love","tag-our-response-to-sin","tag-sin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1",1024,683,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?fit=768%2C512&ssl=1",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1",1024,683,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1",1024,683,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1",1024,683,true],"pk-small":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?resize=80%2C80&ssl=1",80,80,true],"pk-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1",300,225,true],"bigbulletin-500-300":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?resize=500%2C300&ssl=1",500,300,true]},"author_info":{"info":["The Editor"]},"category_info":"From the Editor<\/a>","tag_info":"From the Editor","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/God-is-love.png?fit=1024%2C683&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2414,"url":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/?p=2414","url_meta":{"origin":2456,"position":0},"title":"Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen to Good People?","date":"October 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The past 2-1\/2 years have been particularly marked with suffering.\u00a0 First, many lost their lives to the pandemic or suffered the loss of a loved one, then came the emotional\/mental health impact of the necessary COVID precautions (shelter in place, online versus physical meetings\/classes, etc.).\u00a0 Now, in addition to the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "From the 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Wade SCOTUS Ruling","date":"June 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"First off, I am very Pro-Life, as I believe in the sanctity of life from the moment of conception to natural death \u2013 fundamental Catholic teaching.\u00a0 However, implementing this does not lend itself to a simple, \u201cone size fits all\u201d approach, as there are several aspects to consider.\u00a0 I will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "From The News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/fetus.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":485,"url":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/?p=485","url_meta":{"origin":2456,"position":4},"title":"Why Gasoline Is So Expensive, And What Should We Do About IT?","date":"July 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It seems that not a day goes by without at least one article on today\u2019s high oil and gasoline prices \u2013 almost as though each has its own root cause theory and its own solution.\u00a0 My attempt here is to present the facts on what\u2019s really happening (to the best\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Finances"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/gasolina.png?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":444,"url":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/?p=444","url_meta":{"origin":2456,"position":5},"title":"Happy 4th of July Everyone!","date":"July 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Although we are facing some of the most significant challenges and issues in the history of the USA, there is lots to celebrate! 1) We are a free nation - living the dream of \"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness\" as so well stated in our Declaration of Independence.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "From the Editor"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.druryjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/4th-of-July-2022.webp?fit=1140%2C1140&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2456"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2473,"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2456\/revisions\/2473"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.druryjournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}