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Love and Tolerance |
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Article by
Tom Gilbert —
© Living the Solution
Love—it’s a powerful force.
Some would say the most powerful force in the universe.
The Bible says God is love. Some would say God is the
most powerful force in the universe. The Almighty Being
is indeed all powerful, all loving and completely all
amazing.
I don’t say this simply because you or others believe
it. I don’t say it to be fashionable—or unfashionable.
I don’t say it just because scripture does. I will
admit to all of the above being an influence.
I believe God and love are one and all powerful because
my own experiences tell me so. My heart cries out for
completion and that doesn’t come from people, places
or things.
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“I Vant to be Alone!”
No one truly wants to be alone, especially
those who tell you so. We all want connection. Completion.
To be one just as Jesus and the Father are one.
How do we do that? In a word: love. In another word: tolerance.
That other word gets kicked around a bit. True tolerance
is not approval of immorality, evil or wrong. True tolerance
respects one of God’s greatest gifts to us all:
free will.
How are you doing in the tolerance department? Tolerance
for those closest to you may be the hardest. Loving your
spouse, your parents, your children and your friends requires
giving them the space and permission to make their own
choices. Yes, there will be some poor choices. No one
seems to be immune. You don’t have to love the choices…or
the behavior. But, you can love them with respect and
no conditions.
Out of the Box
Free will is the ultimate “Pandora’s
Box”. Once it’s given you can’t take
it away. Not if you love. God knew that if we didn’t
have free will to choose to love Him then our love would
be meaningless.
Knowing that we must be quick to forgive and very slow
to judge. If we are to judge, perhaps we should judge
only ourselves. The lesson with the woman caught in adultery
() was that you can uphold the law if you are perfect
in doing that yourself. This doesn’t mean there
should be no laws and consequences for violating them.
Societal anarchy isn’t the answer. The key is to
judge the condition of our heart. Is there love there
even in upholding the law?
So, is free will the greatest gift?
I would say no. The greatest gift should be the greatest
act of love.
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The Greatest
Act
What’s the greatest act of love
ever?
The greatest act of love is the unconditional free gift
of redemption and forgiveness. We are loved in spite of
our choices resulting from free will.
Of course, a gift must be received to be complete. If
the package is not accepted, opened and gratefully acknowledged
then it has no meaning for the recipient. If we refuse
this gift it might as well go to someone else. However,
God is much more magnanimous. If we change our mind—truly
repent—we still get the gift!
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay
down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Put
that right next to “He who loves his life loses
it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep
it for eternal life” (John 12:25) and you have a
powerful gift. It’s hard to fathom this. It’s
paradoxical.
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Pretzel Logic
Truth is often paradoxical. Somehow
seemingly conflicting things exist together in truth.
Freedom of choice and allowing evil. Suffer to grow. Surrender
to win. Love and tolerance.
God often gets the bad rap for the evil that happens in
our world. We fail to see that the evil results from our
choosing not to love and obey God. God doesn’t make
the bad things happen. We do!
Yet, the Father tolerates and loves us. It can be no other
way. God cannot contradict His nature.
If we want to be one with God there is a way. Jesus shows
us. Love Jesus and you love God. It’s easier to
love God in human form, at least I think so. It’s
more personal, more tangible, and more relatable. So where
is Jesus? He told us he is in us and among us. “For
where two or three come together in my name, there am
I with them.” (Matthew 18:20). He’s in the
best of us…and the least.
Love and tolerance of others must be our code.
Everyday I get the choice. Everyday I get the test. You
are all around me. I’m going to have the choice
and the opportunity to give you a drink, feed you, welcome
you into my home, clothe you…love you. That’s
impossible for me to do on my own, with my self-centeredness,
my fears and my limited human power. The only way I can
do this is with the most powerful force in the universe
dwelling in me and demonstrating its existence through
love…and tolerance.
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Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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