|
Love - The
Theme Of Christianity
You can jump to another page and
ignore the facts below, but it is still the truth. Ignorance is no excuse if you
call yourself a Christian. If you cannot understand what I state below then call
your self anything but a Christian.
From my limited knowledge of the
bible, it appears to me that life in this world must be based on love - for GOD
and for our fellow man.
"Teacher,
which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the
Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love
your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on
these two commandments."
Matthew 22:37-40
We all seem to think we have the first
part of the above scripture nailed down. That is debatable. But I say to you
with all heart that we ALL need significant work of the second - love of our
fellow man.
Sometimes we tend to tune out messages
about the needy. Messages on TV and the what we see with our own eyes in our
own towns. We seem to think that its just a political football tossed between
the Republicans and Democrats at election time. Many of us also think that we
pay taxes to take care of the poor. Think of the following scripture. It is a
bit long, but you need to read it, memorize it, know it, and put it into
practice.
Judgment Of Nations
"When the Son
of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his
glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him. And he will
separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the
goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the
king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was
hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and
you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison
and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him and say, 'Lord, when did
we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see
you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill
or in prison, and visit you?' And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I
say to you, whatever you did for one of these least
brothers of mine, you did for me.' Then he will say
to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome,
naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for
me.' Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty
or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?' He
will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did
not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'
And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
Matthew 25:31-46
Notice the two
passages in red. Jesus places the welfare of the less fortunate of humanity
directly on the shoulders of believers. In other words THE POOR. And OUR
SALVATION depends on how well you carry out his word.
At some point in our Christian
journey, we have to come to the realization that love is one of the major keys
to salvation. And it is not the type of love where we count on our taxes to take
care of the poor. We must truly extend the hand of friendship and love to many
of the less fortunate and oppressed. Many
people like to point to the scripture where it states that the poor will always
be with us (Matthew
26:11) as excuse for assuming that it is their natural state in life, that
Jesus said that they would always be poor. Yes there will always be poor among
us, but does that mean we are to pass them by and think it is sanctioned by
Jesus? Give me a
break......
When was the last time you had someone
over for dinner of another race? When is the last time that you had a social
engagement with someone outside of your social class. When is the last time you
extended a hand of genuine compassion to someone you did not know, someone that
is different?
We can continue to live in our
socially and racially segregated corners of the world and ignore the hardships
of our fellow human beings. Am I a bleeding heart liberal? Could be that I have
become one, but I guess Jesus could be classified as one also. Labeling people
as liberal and conservatives is just a way for us to ignore facts and
rationalize the poor away as a political position.
After you take some time to pray and
examine your conscience, take a look at two other parts of the scripture.
"Not everyone
who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one
who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in
your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?' Then I will declare to them
solemnly, 'I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers."
Matthew 7:21-23
"Enter
through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to
destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and
constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few."
Matthew 7:13-14
The next time we are all sitting
around in our all white or all black churches thinking how righteous we are, we should think of the two
scriptures above - then think of the homeless and hungry in your town and across
the world. What have you done for your brother today out of love?
Of course,
there is no rush.....
"But of that
day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the
Father alone. For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of
the Son of Man. In (those) days before the flood, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They
did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be
(also) at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one
will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one
will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know
on which day your Lord will come."
Matthew 24:36-42
"What
you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me..."
-
Simple acts of love and prayer keep the light of Christ
burning.
-
Holiness is not the luxury of a few. It is everyone's
duty: yours and mine.
-
Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things.
It consists in accepting, with a smile, what Jesus sends us. It consists in
accepting and following the will of God.
-
Prayer makes your heart bigger, until it is capable of
containing the gift of God Himself.
-
Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the
hands of God, at his disposition, and listening to his voice in the depths of
our hearts.
-
What is a Christian? someone asked a Hindu man. He
responded: "a Christian is someone who gives".
-
I ask you one thing: do not tire of giving, but do not
give your leftovers. Give until it hurts, until you feel the pain.
-
If we worry too much about ourselves, we won't have time
for others.
-
Today it is fashionable to talk about the poor.
Unfortunately it is not fashionable to talk with them.
-
The poor are Christ Himself.
-
When we touch the sick and needy, we touch the suffering
body of Christ.
-
If there are poor in the moon, we will go there too.
-
I pay no attention to numbers; what matters is the
people. I rely on one. There is only one: Jesus.
-
Good works are links that form a chain of love.
-
Peace begins with a smile.
-
Only God knows our true needs.
Quotes From Mother Teresa
Visit Her Web Site
|
