Sponsor |  usmjam | Oct 26, 2007 1:49pm | 1) Thanks for that. I'll leave this thread open for now hoping to will stick to bible references since that is the source of Christian reasoning and guidance.
For a Christian to make it easier to "choose life" one must follow the teachings which ask us to love God with our whole heart, mind and soul and to love others as we love ourselves. The book of James is a good source on how to treat others. Specifically:
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
James 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
James 2:16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Other passages point out that the good Samaritan, who was outside the religious realm of the Jews, was nonetheless a true neighbor even to a Jew who likely held him in contempt back in those days. Continually we are told to reach out to the less fortunate and to be merciful and loving even as Christ gave his life for us.
If we did that, as Christians and as members of society, there would be less suffering in the world. We would not need the government telling us whether or not someone is allowed to terminate pregnancies, who is fit or unfit to be a parent, need to chase after deadbeat dads for child support, etc. We the people, especially professing Christians, ought to take care of each other.
Fact is, many of we Christians have not lived up fully to the commands of our Saviour. The ills of society and how we fail to better address them is not be what our salvation hinges on. Our salvation is all in the finished work of Jesus. But for many of us, our feeble efforts to love others as ourselves says little of our Christian service. Even our worship & devotion to our Saviour gets tepid all too often. The bible says that righteousness exalts a nation. Society reflects that lack of Christian living, of righteousness. For that, may He have mercy on me, for one. |
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Apologetics → Discussion
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