Religious Tolerance.

Hello, everyone I don’t have too much to say, so I’ll make this quick. Ok, so why am I writing this? Because the Lord is screaming in my ears to! That’s intense. Like painful intense. I’m writing this now so He stops! lol. Ok, so He’s not really screaming at me, but I have an overwhelming sensation to write this sermon.

This feels kinda like a repeat of what I’ve been writing, but this is was I really have an urge to write. I really hope this helps at least one of you.

Like I said, I am going to make this brief. Today’s a busy day, filled with Church and youth group and cleaning the house and writing and homework and...*head explodes* Plus, PewterKat’s store opens today! Check it out when you can! I’ll be there shopping for art for a good…5 hours.

I’ll start by asking you all if you remember the Sermon I wrote about False Teachings? In it, I had openly bashed my mother’s religion. That wasn’t right of me and believe when I say I regret writing what I did there. I may really dislike…no, that’s the wrong word, I may really HATE the religion she follows, but that’s no excuse for what I said. I had really hurt my mom, my sister, my friends…It was very emotional. I had been an insensitive, jerkface. I tell you the truth, when my sister started balling on the phone, I sobbed like you wouldn’t believe for a number of reasons. The first reason was because I had hurt the feelings of my sister and my mother, the second reason was because I had done something I’ve known to be wrong for many years, and third and most important, I had hurt The LORD. I don’t like to cry. With recent events and spiritual warfare, I have been crying a lot, but as I’m sure everyone is like this, I don’t like to cry. It takes a lot to make me cry. Well, as much as I tried to fight it off, Jesus was reaching into my heart, and I couldn’t help but cry, apologize to my family, and apologize to our Lord. I was weeping right in front of my mother, just pouring out all my frustrations and worries. I told her that I shouldn’t have done what I had done, and that I get worried about her. In a way, I think that did something for my mom. I really hope it did.

Anyway, the reason I brought that up was because there’s something so incredibly key to helping others cross the line of faith. Judging from the title, you probably already know what it is. Tolerance. Specifically, religious tolerance.

Why is tolerance so important? What is tolerance anyway? The answer to this is simple. In the Bible, Christ said that we are to A.) Love our enemies and pray for them, B.) Leave the presence of people who do not wish to listen to the Word, shaking the dust off your clothes and all that C.) LOVE, period. Think about this. If somebody is being intolerant and spiteful, is that being loving? The Lord has given each and every single one of us free will. You DON’T have to love Him. Yes, the consequences for not following Him or accepting Him in the Flesh (Jesus) are hard, but even so, as much as it pains Him, He gave you the choice. It’s not anyone else’s choice but yours. Not even God’s. If He wanted to, HE COULD force you to, but as stated by a lot of people, forced love is RAPE and God ISN’T a DEVINE RAPIST. He chose to give us independent thought.
With that said, He gave people the option to follow whatever they wanted to. Yes, if they follow what is wrong and what God says isn’t true, they will face consequences, but while alive, they can be happy with whatever they choose to follow. It may sadden us greatly. It saddens me greatly knowing where my mom and sister and two brothers may be going if they keep up with what they’re doing. But, I have no say in this. It’s up to them.

Tolerance is important because everyone has God’s given free will. Every person is searching for the Word. They stumble and follow something else, but really, all they’re doing is searching for Christ. It goes on to much more than just free will.

Remember the verse in the New Testament that says, “We are the Light of the Earth?” It’s completely true. We are the lights of this Earth. We are the guides, all believers are. We are responsible to be a good Christian influence to others. Now, Christ orders us to be loving. He commands us to love our neighbors and to love our enemies. Christ is the Lord in the flesh. We all know of the fact that there is only one God, and He lives in three Persons, The Son, The Father, and the Spirit. They are separate in body and in purpose, but they are all the same and they are all the same being. They are the same God, only God. So, Jesus’ commands were The Lords. He commanded us to love people. To me, that’s what so awesome about being Christian. Not only do we get to have a relationship with God, but we can love all people, period. Hatred is so ugly and consuming it’s not pleasant at all…Especially hatred towards other people. That leads to such evil. But, in Christ, hatred doesn’t apply to us! We can make the definite decision to love all people, even those who decide to hurt us. All that we should hate is what God hates, and what He hates is sin and the Devil. He doesn’t hate people. He LOVES PEOPLE SO MUCH HE SACRIFICED HIS SON SO THAT WE MAY LIVE! Revel in that fact!

Being loving is SO key to being the light of the world. By showing that Christ is not a condemner, but instead, a lover. He doesn’t go, “Hey, you stupid face! Start following me or suffer the consequences!” He goes, “My son/daughter, I love you NO MATTER WHAT YOU CHOOSE” How would you feel if somebody hated you because you are just trying to find the Word? Would you want to follow what they follow? Of course not. We shine God’s light on people by showing them that GOD IS LOVE, AND HE LOVES ALL, NO MATTER WHAT.

There are consequences for every action. Good or bad, we all face what we have done. Non-believers will someday face the fact that they have sinned, and because they have, the Lord will have to let them die. But, that’s only for the Lord to do, NOT FOR US. We are to let Christ in us BRING PEOPLE TO LIFE. We CAN’T bring them to life if we hate them. We can’t bring them to life period. Only the Lord can. But you can let the Lord work in you to bring people to life. God is loving and understanding. He will NOT be hateful toward us now that Jesus has sacrificed Himself so that we may live. He hates sin, He hates the fact that people like to sin, but He loves the sinner. Show people love, and He guarantees that He will work in you to bring people to Him.

What is tolerance exactly? I once thought it meant to strongly encourage others who are following the wrong path to keep on doing what they’re doing. That’s not it, though. Tolerance is to respect somebody’s decisions and love them anyway. I don’t mean like respecting their decisions to like murder somebody or something, because that obviously has to be stopped in the name of the Lord. I mean that you respect and love somebody, regardless of what they choose to follow. You make peace with them, you be their friend, their brother or sister, whatever. But amongst all this, you don’t exactly encourage them either. Meaning, you don’t go, “Hey! You’re doing the right thing following the idol you’re following! Keep it up!” but you go, “Hey, I’m glad you are happy.” Sure, they don’t really know true happiness without the Lord, but you just let them make their own decisions. It may cause them death in the long run, but it’s their choice. Not ours. It’s out of our power. Guaranteed, the Lord WILL work in you to show people Christ, but we cannot change anybody. Only God can.

Say that you have family members who are following other faiths. You know they’re wrong, and you know that when they pray, they hear nothing back. Believe, I KNOW how frustrating that is. Some of the most influential people in my life are of other religions. False religions. It drives me crazy sometimes! I mean, I just get so frustrated I just want to punch out God! Heah, that's be something xp But even so, I know the Lord wants me to be loving and non-judgmental.

The Lord has encouraged me to try and makes friends with people of other faiths. Heck, I think one of the main reasons I’m in the school I’m in now is to try and be a light there. I’m sure He encourages us all to be this way. He once told me that I have to keep a few things in mind. I CANNOT under any circumstance try and FORCE Him on anyone. It all goes back to the fact that force love is rape and God is no rapist. I cannot violate their free will. Second, I cannot hate them. As much as it is frustrating to have a lot of outside influence in my life, I must not let it turn me into what Christ doesn’t want us to be. I had already screwed that up by getting very hateful with my mom’s religion for a brief period (thank the Lord our God that it wasn’t a very long thing). He also told me that I CAN’T sin while trying to be a light. That doesn’t help anything. This is what He told me. Whatever He tells you guys, I don’t know.

All in all, tolerance is very key to spreading the Word.

Ok, I’ve got to go do other things. Once again, we got PIZZA!! Wooo! I hope you all have a wonderful God filled day in the name of Christ!