The Greatest Sin
77
From a Bible Believing Christian to Others of Like Mind
What is the greatest sin? Many evangelicals will tell you it’s “rejecting Jesus” and we know that “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 12:31) is listed as the only unforgivable sin, but we don’t really have a good definition of what that means. I’ve heard that rejecting Jesus and blasphemy against the Holy Spirit are the same thing. Often listing “unforgivable sin” is a “scare tactic” to push someone into a particular behavior.
But are either of those “The Greatest Sin”?
Our Catholic friends have given us a list of the “Seven Deadly Sins”: Pride, Avarice, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth. Maybe one of these are the greatest sin.
Maybe the ten commandments has the greatest sin listed. Murder, perhaps. Or adultery? Those are pretty bad sins, that’s for sure.
But, are any of these really the greatest sin?
|
God Calling
Price: $5.34
List Price: $9.99 |
|
When Heaven Invades Earth
Price: $6.00
List Price: $14.99 |
|
Death, Heaven And Back: The True Story Of One Man's Death And Resurrection (Volume 1)
Price: $8.00
List Price: $8.00 |
What is Sin Anyway?
While we’re on the subject. What exactly is sin? Some of us have this idea (encouraged by certain professional holy men) that sins are just these terribly horrible things that we should all feel guilty about all the time. And that could be … to a point. But that's not the whole story. Far from it. The Greek word that is translated into the English word “sin” is Hamartia.
A quick search of Wikipedia tells us:
Hamartia (Ancient Greek:) is a term developed by Aristotle in his work Poetics. The term can simply be seen as a character’s flaw or error. The word hamartia is rooted in the notion of missing the mark (hamartanein) and covers a broad spectrum that includes accident and mistake, as well as wrongdoing, error..,
There is much less “accusation” in the original Greek it’s a more of a simple acknowledgment of our lack of perfection.
OK, enough already, What is the “Greatest Sin”?
The Greatest Sin Is ...
It makes sense that the greatest sin would be failure to follow the greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:37-39 says “37 Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
And as a point of clarification, we see in scripture that we cannot do commandment number one, without doing commandment number two. 1 John 4:20 says: If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
The greatest sin, therefore, is failure to love. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us:
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. 6 It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
Failure to love. That is the greatest sin.
When I am impatient I am committing the greatest sin.
When I am unkind or jealous, I am committing the greatest sin. When I am boastful, proud, rude, selfish, irritable, these are “great” sins.
When I give up on my friends. When I abandon hope. When I allow circumstances to dictate my attitude toward people. I commit great sin.
Because when I do any of these things, I am failing to love.
But How?
We can not do this alone. We don’t have to.
1 John 2:1-3, 1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin [Fail to Love]. And if anyone sins [Fails to Love], we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
1 John 3:16-21
… 16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
It is said, that in his later years, the apostle John, the author of the above writings, when he was old, would be carried from town to town to speak with the Christians. They would strain to hear about the miracles of Jesus. The water into wine. The healings. The resurrections. “Tell us the stories of Jesus”, they would cry.
And he would simply say, “Little children, love, love one another.”
PrintShare it! — Rate it: up down flag this hub
Comments
Thanks!
Seriously though, on an off-topic remark, I was merely defending myself in the antichrist thread. It got a lil' out of hand and I am sort of backing off. I don't think I was flaunting what I beliueve as THE truth, but I do feel that her interp of that particular doctrine is misconstrued, and that's really it. Just trying to clarify.
I understand. I have A LOT of respect for you.
I don't deserve respect, but thank you anyway. :)
touche'! I believe that just as you do. You are a breath of fresh air and lately I had been feeling a little blue, where do I fit. Of coure I don't need to fit in, but as a human it is nice to see eye to eye in the heart of love so that together we can move past these most unfortunate notions that tear the world to pieces.
And I deemed tk my favorite pesimist. lol.
I guess I am saying what a blessing you are! (virtual hugs) to you too tk.
My pleasure Sandra! Thanks again for the hugs! Back atcha!
BDazzler I made it here! You have given me a happy heart. I do not regard myself as a 'religious' person although I do profess to a belief in 'God', (does that make me religious I don't think so.) but that does not stop me having what I would call, rightly or wrongly, 'christian' beliefs.
Such as loving your fellow man. Do unto others.
I can only but say "If only everyone on earth followed whats on this Hub?"
I do not think this has any contradiction of my comment on Misty's Hub, just explains it in a more biblical manner.
Thank you for the opportunity of reading your writings and I will become a fan to catch up.
You are welcome. Thanks for your feed back!
BDazzler - I think you are a beacon for your faith because you seem to treat everyone well. When I finish this comment I'll join your fan club. I agree entirely that failure to love is the greatest error. And the legitimate 'object' for love can be human, animal, plant, mountain or sea. But I am not convinced that error equates to sin. If I fail to love my neighbour it is a de facto failure to love God (in Jesus's argument). But if I do not know God yet succeed in loving my neighbour, I do not think I am in error. What I am getting at is that 'sin' in my world view is an undefined concept, while error is very clear. Ethical or moral behaviour is not the sole preserve of 'Believers'.
Thanks Para. That means a lot. I respect your thinking processes. I think our some of our religious institutions have inadvertantly drawn an invalid distiction between 'sin' and 'error'. I believe this distinction prevents people from coming to faith.
And I agree, about animal, plant etc. btw. God loves all of his creation, and therefore so should we. Christians should be on the forefront of the 'Green' movement, out of love for His creation ... but we are not.
Interesting. I just wrote my latest hub about being a good dad without being religious-- and used the same scripture.
I read that, it was a good hub, I recommend it: http://hubpages.com/hub/Good-Dad-Without-Religion
This hub is wonderful BD, I really enjoyed reading it and I loved the relevance of the quotes you used from Scripture.
Thank you, Misty ... I have been humbled by some of the private messages I've gotten from this hub. I can only say, this is why I love Jesus so much. (He gives me GREAT material to work with!)
Very well thought out and presented. Sounds a lot like faith and works. Faith is required, but works follows. If no works are visible, faith is questionable. Love of God is required, but if love of mankind is not visible, love of God is questionable.
I like the way you think and present the truth, but your love and humility is what makes you stand out from so many professing "Christians". It seems to me that so many have gotten so puffed it with knowledge that they've left love in the dust.
Sorry, didn't mean to get negative here.
Keep up the great work. ~ eddie
Eddie - I love you man! Thanks!
You're right on target, , 1 Cor 13:1 tells us "Knowledge puffs up - but love edifies" ... A lot of us have a lot of knowelege. A mentally handicapped woman taught me the truth on that. She didn't know a lot, but she knew how to love.
What you have here is really the heart of the Bible, isn't it? How often we forget! Thanks for a wonderful hub!
Thanks you!
Nice hub. To love God is ultimately to love yourself, if you think about it. God is love - love is God. So to love God is to love love itself. But we cannot love because love is not an action - love is God - love is an entity that dwells in us. Love is God working through us. And If God is the only love, then love for God is the same thing as love for self.
The greatest sin is guilt. It is not something you do, but an illusion that you are afflicted with. Guilt is the darkness. Jesus is the light. Forgiveness is the light of Christ illuminating and exposing the illegitimacy of our guilt. The greatest sin is the first sin - the foundation sin. Adam and Eve's eyes were opened to a lie. Then they became ashamed and hid themselves. That guilt was the first sin. Jesus came to free us from it.
Thats an intresting perspective. I've always considered guilt a symptom, not an indpendant entity.
I always understod guilt to be given out by satan. Guilt is not of God because God loves us, even when we sin...albeit he abhors the sin itself.
Yeah, I agree with that more. I've felt like guilt was satan's substiution for conviction.
Yeah. I lived in years and years of guilt for sins I'd committed after repenting time and time again. I basically beat myself up to the point if I did anythign wrong I would be so bent outta shape I'd practically kill myself.
Exactly!
think about it - the first thing Adam and Eve did was conceal themselves. They became ashamed of themselves, whereas before, they loved themselves. The knowledge of good and evil was a lie. It made them think that there was something evil about themselves. Instead of everything being unified as one existence, things became divided.
Sin is not an act. It's an affliction; a spiritual sickness. It isn't our fault.
It is an affliction, one that was chosen by people who outright disobeyed a God who made them and walked with them. It doesn't matter what the tree was or what it did. Adam/Eve decided that satan was more fun than God, and they paid for it, mankind with them. I don't know why it's passed on from generation to generation, nor do I like it, but it's reality. We sort of have to deal with it as it comes, you know?
What you just said, Tim, is what I consider a working definition of humility, "...nor do I like it, but it's reality. We sort of have to deal with it as it comes, you know?"
If it doesn't matter what the tree was or what it did, then why does the Bible even mention it? The most important thing to understand about sin and the fall of Man is the implications of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and what happened when it was eaten from. Your philosophy is defeatist - you say that we just have to deal with it. That's where you end up when you ignore the tree and what it means - you get a dead end. You get, "I suffer from sin and that's just life and there's no way to understand it or be free from it." and then you join the hoards of people who take relief in the prospect of dying and going on to an afterlife, but never consider the possbility that heaven - the real heaven - is right here. We're still in the Garden, man, we just can't see it because of this "knowledge" of good and evil. The kingdom of God is here in our midst.
Great Hub! I believe that sin can be equated to error...not the kind of error where you spill your coffee, but the kind where you fail others in helping them or loving them.
Thanks for writing!
maestro: I believe that when Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit, they were saying, "We don't love God enough to trust Him that what he says for us is good for us."
At the point of sin, they were cut off from God's love, their love for one another was diminished. and they were ashamed and guilty before each other.
I believe the shame and guilt was the result of their failure to love God fully, mentioned as a symptom, or a consequence, not as the cause. I still don't believe the guilt is a sin. I beilve the guilt is a consequence or symptom of sin.
Embracing: Thanks! I look forward to more of yorus as well!
BD: I should've clarified. My comment was directed to Tkeeley. But I suppose it would appropriately go to you too.
If that's what you think, then what do you make of the tree?
God said you may eat of ANY tree except one. The resson that one tree was "bad" could be a whole hub or two. For this disucssion, we'll just assume that it was "bad" because God said so.
Adam and Eve, evidenlty did not love God enough to take his word for it. They listened to the snake slander someone she should have trusted. (The snake told seeral lies about God.)
They didn't love God enough, nor believe in His love for them enough, to walk away from the snake, and therefore the tree.
God had His reasons for saying the tree was"bad". I don't believe it was aribirary, and I don't believe it was a "set up".
I have studied the tree extensively, and I have some thoughts on why God said it was bad. But, I don't feel I can summarize them in a comment, and I'm not ready, at least at this time, to write a hub on the meaning of the tree.
I do think the tree in and of itself was "Good" because God saw "all that he had created and said it was good."
The unlove and the disobedince that followed was "not good."
so I take it you think it was their fault that they didnt love God enough? You must think that they could've loved Him more if they only chose to. You must think that you can control what you love and what you don't love. Love is something that happens inside our core. Love is God working within us. When love is absent, do you think we can make it present? Do you think we can create love? Can we create God? I don't think so.
God is love, but love is not God. You asked I answered. And yes, I do believe that love is a choice. We are designed to be victors, not victims.
They made a choice. It was an unloving choice. Yes, we are responsible for our choices and their consequenes. God, however, loved us more, so he provided for this from the beginning. That provision is Jesus. Jesus accepted the consequences of the choice that should have been my responsiblity.
This is wonderful and after being angry at my neighbors for stealing and lying, I had to forgive them but for goodness sake I have not spoke with them as there spirits are so dark, I stay far away and I hope God forgives me for that. I needed this article as reassurance and their you were bringing the truth to light.:)
Thanks Julianna! God's pretty good at the forgivness thing. I wish I could take credit for this idea. A friend and I got into an argument, and this was his answer. I had something like Rejecting Jesus or some such, I don't remember. But he was right. God's good like that, helping us see truth gently!
I wonder how God could be love but love isn't God. That doesn't work. Can you explain how it does? You, and most people for that matter, are hell bent on casting the blame on yourself, and the rest of Mankind. Do you really think that you can do something good all by yourself? That is totally contrary to God's Word. I've been round and round about this, and there simply isn't any scripture that supports this whole "I have a choice" stuff. I would think that since it is such a huge, pivotal part of your doctrine, that it would be mentioned at least once in the Bible. Don't you think so? But it isn't there. All good things come from God. No good things come from Man. Period. You can't say that ALMOST all good things come from God, can you?
lol Maestro. It's great to see you incorporating doctrines of divine grace into this comment string ;) God forbid you ever try and quote someone from the reformation!
Speaking of which...I find it funny that when modern American evangelicals are faced with something foreign to them, they freak out. No one here is doing that, but a "friend" of mine on facebook totally flipped at me tonight because I'm apparently not "striving for sanctification." Frankly the Spirit drives the process, so if I'm not sanctified it's either because I'm not letting God work (which he then forces me to let Him, so it's impossible) or they have a wrong view on sanctification.
I'll go with the latter.
Maestro: A dog can not be a doberman, but a doberman cannot not be a dog. To limit God to be "Only Love" or worshiping Love as God is an error.
I am not quite certain what you're saying with the rest of your post. You seem to be putting words in my mouth, and honestly, I don't understand your point.
For this reason, I choose to end this discussion becasue I believe that it is the most loving choice I can make. If you'd like to move it to a forum, and engage others in this, you are certainly welcome to do so.
I thank you, sincerely, for your comments, they are certainly heart felt and passionate.
This hub is about sin, right? Well that's what my comment was about. I don't mean to aggrivate you, and I'm sorry if I have.
I will honor your wishes and discontinue the discussion. Nice hub!
I don't know, I am reading these comments and well, I don't think that Adam and Eve disobeyed or were not loving enough or that they didn't have free will.
If they were made perfect to begin with then they were also made to trust things as all things were made perfect and good at this time...Anyone disagree?
Ok, well when God was like, don't eat from that tree or you will die, they were like ok, but then when the Serpant came by (at this point they don't even know what a lie is, they don't know how to not love or not trust...you follow?
So when the Serpent was like, no, you can eat it, you wont die. Eve was like, ok. So she ate it and they died... Enough said.
Now when you talking about the purpose of the tree of good and evil and God and the Serpant, evidentally it is safe to say that even the Serpant didn't lie and the Sepant was also obedient and to be trusted.
Why? Well because of Jesus which gives life again for whatever sin was made and they will be resurrected just like everyone else, forgiven etc...
However you put the story together to make it work for your belief is fine but one that I am certain is that their original sin was not to not love or trust because every step of the way God has always been around and well apperantly the Serpent has been around.
However unpopular my thoughts are (and they are not out of hate or distrust but of total trust and a huge leap of faith and a lot of understanding) If the Spirit of Jesus was said to be present at the same time with God, then Jesus was the Serpant.
I know it sounds bad, but eventually I think people will get what I am saying. As it says, Jesus is the double edged sward, the one who will bring his vengence, the prince of Peace, the beginning and the end, the cross.
So what would be so significant about the cross? From any direction we all, every single one of us has tasted both sides, and to be made in the image of God would be consistent with the way we are today, good and bad.
Jesus' reference to only one being good is God, and John references that there is only one who is not of God, and this one is the one that does not know love.
Well then that would be hate, right? Also to say "great deciever" shouldn't neccesarily imply that this is bad, two words together are a bit of a cunumdrum. So in the end, yes the Serpent was the reason we live the way we live today (however methaphorical it is) on the same token, the Serpent is the reason we get to know life and death and what we love or hate about them both.
Now Jesus says to love thy enemy but hate what is evil. Why would Jesus ask that you love your enemy, and our mortal enemy being Satan, the Serpent or whatever other name he is known by? Because they are one in the same.
In my eyes as just a witness to what is going on in the world, it is obvious to me at least, that we have here a good Jesus (he preached love) and a bad Jesus (the one that preaches love but produces hate).
So meastro, when you say we do not have free will, well to some extent we don't, I agree but everything inbetween is ours. THe best piece of advise I could give anyone who wants to know the truth is this.
No matter what you do, no matter what you read, no matter how obscure things seem to be and no matter how angry you are, look through the eyes of love. If it is better for you...then look through the eyes of God, which loves.
The bible said: one who seeks will find and when one finds they will be troubled. Don't harden your heat to the Lord but be in good faith.
And as sure as I am about the anomoly we have, that you would really have to trust in your love for God and somethings that you may not want to hear, but always look with loving eyes and you will see a whole new light and then you will fall to your knees saying: How glorious and wise and wonderful and interesting...Jesus is.
I know I might get an earful from both maestro and bdaz and I love you both. xoxoxo
Meastro: I accept your appology. A point of clarification.
My problem is not with your opinions. It was specifically with this statement: "You, and most people for that matter, are hell bent on casting the blame on yourself, and the rest of Mankind. "
That is untrue. And that irritated me. So, since love is not irritable, I felt it nessary to close the discussion. The more loving thing to do would have been to sleep on it, and let the irritation pass. I ask your forgivness for shutting it down so abruptly.
I do, respectfuly, request that you attempt to refrain from putting words in my mouth in the future.
Since you asked for one scripture about choice, I have found one for you: Joshua 24:15: And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
BDazzler,
You are the man!!!
I saw this coming and left dodge. As Christians we have no time to debate with those who disagree. I have wonderful Christian friends who believe differently than I do on some issues, we stay friends because we respect each other as family.
There are others who just enjoy a fight. I have no time for them.
There are others who are sincerely looking for answers. I will help them as long as they are seeking honest answers.
And God never asked me to defend Him. We have been given a mission field and a message. When we have an important message of love and salvation for this world why should I spend precious time with those who only want to debate?
Others disagree with me on this and I’ve watched the conversations go on and on. I’ve not seen a clear winner on any of those debates yet.
No, I apologize, the only winner is Satan. He must be very happy to see Christians debating with Christians while the unsaved walk away shaking their heads.
I don’t mean to sound unlovely. Billy Graham said that if he spent his time answering his critics he would never get anything else done. Look what he has done.
Nor am I pointing fingers at anyone. I’ve not bothered reading any comments after I saw where it was going. I am just proud of you for sticking up for what is right. This is your hub, your subject and you’re the one who is responsible to keep it on track and in a way that would please and honor the One you serve.
Thank you for listening to my rant. You are more than welcome to deny this if you want. I would not be offended. Love you brother. ~ eddie
Sandra, first off, if you tell me you love me, so you get a pass on just about anything else! :) ...
"If they were made perfect to begin with then they were also made to trust things as all things were made perfect and good at this time...Anyone disagree?"
Actually I do. They were made with the capcity to both trust and distrust. The snake should have been distrusted. God should not have. The made a mistake. Mistakes kill people everyday. Even if there's no moral blame. Someitmes there is moral blame, and sometimes there's not. God doesn't seem to be too worried about the difference.
If I run my car into a phone pole because the road is icy or if I run my car into a phone pole because I choose to do it, the car is just as messed up. God's got both conditions covered by Jesus.
"In my eyes as just a witness to what is going on in the world, it is obvious to me at least, that we have here a good Jesus (he preached love) and a bad Jesus (the one that preaches love but produces hate)."
I guess I would explain it this way: I hate for example, that certain people who you should have been able to trust, taught you things about God that are untrue and interfered with your relationship wiith Him. That was a great wrong. I hate that it happened. But I do not hate the people that did it. What they did was wrong. They should not have done it. But they did.
What they did to you was the work of the devil, not the work of God.
Jesus came to fix that. Jesus told us that satan came to "Kill, Steal and Destroy". And John tells us that Jesus came to "Destroy the works of the devil".
The devil, using people you trusted, stole, for a time, your relationship with God. Jesus restored it. These people led you into an error that hurt you. You did not choose to err. But still you did. Jesus came to fix that error for you. And He did.
There are a lot of choices involved. ANd a lot of decieption. And you're fighthing through the decpetion to love. So every day, you are less decieved, because love is many things, but it is NOT blind.
What I love about you, sandra, is that you base all your choices on what you know to be your relationship with God. And furthermore, anything that interferes with that relationship, doctrine or anything, you soundly reject.
Look at the time when Jesus became angry. It was when "Profesional holy people" were trying to get rich by exploiting people's desires to be right with God. And then, not even delivering on that promise, but instead, making it worse.
Hate is another misunderstood word. Maybe I'll deal with that in a future hub.
Eddie, I saw it was from you and approved it instantly. Each of us is SO precious to God.
I only pray that I am dealing with this in a loving way.
My King paid such a high price for each and every soul, that I must value each as He does.
I love you too Eddie!
BDazzler,
I have not read much of anything that has been written since it started, but I did read your last comment and you did handle that in love.
It is not easy when you are being attacked. We must remember who is influencing the attacks and WHO they are really attacking. We are only messengers - nothing more - nothing less.
I received an attack this morning from a non Christian and it upset me. But you know what I deleted it so I would not have to constantly be seeing it. Something else, I respect him for speaking his mind more than I respect people who claim to know Jesus as Savior and be a part of His faimily (Christian) and yet attacking family members.
It pains me to think of what the family of God could accomplish here if we would stop fighting each other and fight the real enemy. I link my articles to other Christians who are spreading the good news even if I disagree with them on some doctrines. As long as we agree on getting the Salvation message out.
Anyway I have to go. Have a busy day with the granddaughter. Love ya brother. ~ eddie
BDaz, that would actually make a great hub, hate. I know that the bible said in John 4:1 (I think somewhere like that) God is love...
"There is only one who is not of God and this one does not know love." Or he is the liar, or the one who came to kill, steal and destroy ect. and in revelations he is called the dragon.
Now when studying with the Jehovahas witnesses, they said that Satan is the ruler of this world. Which I agree. I am pondering on what Satan actually is.
It would seem as though the Serpant and Satan are two different entitities. I just speculate, but what if God knew that Satan was part of the tree of good and evil so that is why God firbid them to eat from it, but the Serpent knowing many things did not know this one (satan) either.
So in the act of eating from the tree they released the devil. I still agree that the world greasted sin is to not love. I am not really sold however on the original sin. Help me work it out. :) or lets see if we can get to the bottom of this. :)
I sorta think that original sin was man period. I think Adam and Eve always make an interesting topic since there is a lot of speculation as to what actually happened. (well at least for me) or the original sin is beleiving that there was any sin. I guess the same as Adam and Eve covered themselves up with shame of being naked.
Anyways, would love to hear you thoughts on this. Maybe you could start a new hub with your thoughs and we could start the dicussion there. I think that would be awsome.
(((hugs)))
Lotta hubs in the works :) ... I hit the "Recommend Requests For You" button, and your request about the book of Revelaiton popped up. I was not really satisfied with any of the answers, so, that's what I'm working on right now.
Hate ...I'll think about that for sure.
(hugs back)
I got to thinking about that hate hub Sandra ... I put the Revelation hub on hold and moved it to the front of the line and wrote it today ... I'll be interested to see what you think.
Bdazzler- I just peek on and off into the forums(honestly the tone of some hubbers isn't conducive for civil discussion). But I have observed that you are very respectful and courteous in your responses. I was glad I landed on this hub. When you wrote "Failure to love. That is the greatest sin." I felt like here is a man who is a true practitioner. Your words jump out and touch my heart. We all need more love in this world. May their be more of your kind. You stand as a model example for "Christian" behavior.
CW - You are very kind and I thank you for your encouraging words. I am in service to a great King, and I am still very much still just learning how to love like my King loves. He is a kind, genrous and gentle Teacher.
Hi BDazzler, my big brother! I enjoyed reading your hub. I guess all the other things we fail to do is born out of the failure to love. I've also had my share of moments when I have failed to love and God (In his infinite grace) continues to love me. With that, I have learned to love some more. And that's the most beautiful thing of it all. :-) It never stops...the learning and growing. You are a wonderful and wise teacher. Keep on...
Really enjoyed this well written hub, thanks! You would think it is stating the obvious - it looks like every generation requires reminding... well done!
Hi Ripple Maker - Yes, God's grace is awesome!
Denny, thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
The love chapter, 1 Cor 13 ends with the fact that now these three remain: faith, hope and love ~ and the greatest of these is LOVE. Just something to add here is that I've learned over the years that the vey ingredient that gives POWER to our prayers is LOVE. This is why God says to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you! Pray with that POWER. Love. You will know we are Christians by our LOVE. AMEN.
Thanks Carrie!
I would agree that the greatest commandment is to love, and as Paul said, even if we had everything else but were without love, we would have nothing.
However, in the case of sin, we usually see them as a list where some are bad, some are worse, and others are worse still, but I would suggest that God does not see sin in the same way that we do.
Jesus said that God considered hate to be like murder, and lust to be like adultery, so right there He turned the tables on the way we think. I would suggest that God sees each and every sin as a broken law, an offense, but still sin, no matter what sin it were.
Instead of the greatest sin, we would have the only sin, based on what Jesus said about loving God and loving neighbor and then being able to keep the rest of the law.
As far as the unforgivable sin, the Bible doesn't talk too much about it, however, we know that Jesus warned about it right after the religious rulers accused Him of doing works through the devil(I believe that is correct). Blasphemy of the Holy Spirt, right? So, technically the religious rulers were saying that the Spirit was the devil, and of course they would never open their hearts up to that. Just a thought.
Thanks Dave! My thoughts on that are this: If we truly love God with all our heart soul and mind, there's no way we COULD blaspheme the Holy Spirit and we would certainly never reject His Son! And if we love our neighbor as ourselves, we would not steal, murder etc.
He also said all laws derive from these two, so, I figure if we foucs on Love, everything else will kind of just fall into place.
My thoughts exactly. Love wins.
I love 1 Cor:13 it is one of my favorite passages and sometimes it is so hard to live by it, but when I am at my lowest point I recite it. You should seriously be a preacher, as you are wonderful at bring God to life. :)
Thanks Julianna! Love your new Avatar, BTW!
Awesome, thank's for sharing that. God Bless You.
Thank you febriedethan!
BDazzler: There you are , I am so glad that you are here, I thought you were just quitely trying to sneak in..:)
I'm around, my parents and grandmother were visiting this weekend, so I was away from my computer. I've been on the forums a bit ... my time is getting sliced thinner and thinner. :)
Mine too!!! I will e-mail you this week and when you get a chance check it..:) He is preparing you..:)
without love none of the commandments can be kept. nice inclusion of Scripture.
I couldn't have noticed such a great hub if I haven't asked the question "What is the greatest sin"? There title of this hub flashed in the right side bar. Instead of not loving, I understand that hatred towards anyone is the greatest sin in the eyes of God. Thumbs up.
Find Great Toys This Christmas - Free Search!
- My Toy Search
Find Toys!
t.keeley says:
13 months ago
Awesome!