[FONT="]Hi![/FONT]
[FONT="]This is my first thread in a long long time. I will begin with this scripture.[/FONT]
[FONT="]1 Cor 13.4 [/FONT]
[FONT="]Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part... [/FONT]
[FONT="]I remember when I was a young Christian. I remember the sermons that I use to preach and classes I would try to teach. I really loved the Lord and I wanted him so much. I also wanted to know so much about him... I wanted to accomplish so much. But now looking back I didn't have a lot of these things listed above. I was privileged to sit under some of the best teaching available and some of the best mentors a person could have but even though so much of me was in the right place, a lot of me wasnt. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I think it's easy to become arrogant and conceited and not even know that you are. It's easy to become proud of your knowledge and understanding. I believe a lot of these things listed above are not true for a lot of people today. It can be easy to become angry or impatient with a person when they don't agree with you especially when you believe you know something they don't or have a higher knowledge than they do. Anger, rudeness, a lack of trust in people who don't think the same as you do. A lack of hope that people who refuse to be like you will ever come to anything or know anything or the trust that they have reason what they believe or feel. There is also this ugly complacency about the lives of those different people. It can be casually discussed that unbelievers go to hell, that they have no reason to complain or blame, that doesn't sound much like the protection and perseverance that love is supposed to bring. I believe that sometimes religion or rather misused religion creates a valley between peoples and those enlightened ones look down at the lowly foolish unbelievers. People boast of how long they've served the Lord, how much success they've had, how much they know how well they can quote scriptures or pray out loud. Knowledge is something that we have that is not perfect, there is so much that we do not know. I find it significant to consider that we didn't choose the lives we were raised into or were given in say our first 20-25 years. It wasn't our choice or doing that we were given the opportunity to learn and grow and sometimes that is the only difference between ourselves and those who are different, a gift that was given to us that we did not earn. I think sometimes we should consider ourselves lucky beneficiaries of knowledge and wisdom because it was only a gift, not something to be proud of. I think it can be easy to get lost in tunnel vision of going for a noble cause and success that you lose the softness, gentleness and love and general goodness that we are supposed to have. Why are we so disagreeable and why are we so easily angered? Why is it sometimes not ok that people refuse to think or act like we do? Why can't we trust that they have reasons for what they do too? Love never fails, where knowledge and understanding and power fail, love can succeed and finds a way. That is to say that for all your effort and knowledge sometimes the best thing to do is love. Religious activity can become a race, or a competition for some people. Sadly. Why does it matter who knows the most? Our knowledge is imperfect and partial, incomplete at best. It's like people use God to become little demigods themselves, the most knowledgeable, the most wise, the most successful, better than the unbelievers or those who don't know what we know. [/FONT]
[FONT="]This is my first thread in a long long time. I will begin with this scripture.[/FONT]
[FONT="]1 Cor 13.4 [/FONT]
[FONT="]Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part... [/FONT]
[FONT="]I remember when I was a young Christian. I remember the sermons that I use to preach and classes I would try to teach. I really loved the Lord and I wanted him so much. I also wanted to know so much about him... I wanted to accomplish so much. But now looking back I didn't have a lot of these things listed above. I was privileged to sit under some of the best teaching available and some of the best mentors a person could have but even though so much of me was in the right place, a lot of me wasnt. [/FONT]
[FONT="]I think it's easy to become arrogant and conceited and not even know that you are. It's easy to become proud of your knowledge and understanding. I believe a lot of these things listed above are not true for a lot of people today. It can be easy to become angry or impatient with a person when they don't agree with you especially when you believe you know something they don't or have a higher knowledge than they do. Anger, rudeness, a lack of trust in people who don't think the same as you do. A lack of hope that people who refuse to be like you will ever come to anything or know anything or the trust that they have reason what they believe or feel. There is also this ugly complacency about the lives of those different people. It can be casually discussed that unbelievers go to hell, that they have no reason to complain or blame, that doesn't sound much like the protection and perseverance that love is supposed to bring. I believe that sometimes religion or rather misused religion creates a valley between peoples and those enlightened ones look down at the lowly foolish unbelievers. People boast of how long they've served the Lord, how much success they've had, how much they know how well they can quote scriptures or pray out loud. Knowledge is something that we have that is not perfect, there is so much that we do not know. I find it significant to consider that we didn't choose the lives we were raised into or were given in say our first 20-25 years. It wasn't our choice or doing that we were given the opportunity to learn and grow and sometimes that is the only difference between ourselves and those who are different, a gift that was given to us that we did not earn. I think sometimes we should consider ourselves lucky beneficiaries of knowledge and wisdom because it was only a gift, not something to be proud of. I think it can be easy to get lost in tunnel vision of going for a noble cause and success that you lose the softness, gentleness and love and general goodness that we are supposed to have. Why are we so disagreeable and why are we so easily angered? Why is it sometimes not ok that people refuse to think or act like we do? Why can't we trust that they have reasons for what they do too? Love never fails, where knowledge and understanding and power fail, love can succeed and finds a way. That is to say that for all your effort and knowledge sometimes the best thing to do is love. Religious activity can become a race, or a competition for some people. Sadly. Why does it matter who knows the most? Our knowledge is imperfect and partial, incomplete at best. It's like people use God to become little demigods themselves, the most knowledgeable, the most wise, the most successful, better than the unbelievers or those who don't know what we know. [/FONT]
