I am not a religious person, and I am not an Atheist. I am of the belief that people are free to believe in whatever it is that brings them comfort. I do not agree with the simple statement that God does not exist, because it is simply not a fact. Even if his existence is just a thought or an idea, it still makes him an influential force and as such a tangible being. On the flip side of that, I do not believe that you need to be a Christian in order to live your life according to the values of that religion. In fact, I believe that I live my life in a closer accordance to these values than some of those who claim to be of the Christian faith. My problem with religion is that it has been twisted and mutated over time to reflect personal values and ideas instead of the values and ideas that were originally intended. Those core values have been traded in for hatred, bigotry, selfishness, greed, and intolerance. I have seen all of these things from many people who claim to be Christians. As such, I have decided to give all of the Christians who may read this a gift for the New Year. Below is a refresher course as to what exactly some of the core Christian values are. I hope that you can get some use from them, but if not, let me know and I can give you some suggestions for a name for your new Religion because it sure as hell is NOT Christianity..... GRACE Grace is one of the most radical and subversive principles of life. It means giving people more than they deserve irrespective of the cause of their need and without regard to national, cultural or religious boundaries. Those who live by grace know themselves as forgiven and act out of the humility that comes from that knowledge. Grace is far more than the vague notion of tolerance. It means living joyfully according to a possibility rather than a demand or an obligation. HOPE Hope is not a guarantee that bad things will not happen nor is it simply positive thinking or looking on the bright side of life. Hope is the conviction that God has gone into the future before us and will always be with present with his people. Hope is an encouragement not to overlook the many good and positive aspects of life and to be prepared to take risks, not presumptuously, but in humility and prayer, confident that God is still at work. FAITH Faith is an attitude of trust in someone you can rely on which mirrors the commitment that God has for his people. It involves commitment, fidelity and trust and thus stands in contrast to many common attitudes to relationships as short-term, conditional and uncommitted. Faith deepens relationships and enables people to explore more fully the meaning of their own life and the beauty of the lives of others. It is an important element of all kinds of family and other social relationships. LOVE The meaning of life is to be found in God’s unconditional love known in Jesus Christ. Without love nothing else really makes sense. Its most fundamental characteristic is that it seeks the good of the other. It is contrary to all selfish, self-centred attitudes. Love is more than an emotion, and it is not merely ‘liking’. It involves choosing to love the unlovable, including one’s enemy. The opposite of the love is not hate but fear. JUSTICE Biblical justice is not even defined by abstract notions of fairness or equality (often interpreted in terms of oneself - ‘we demand justice’). It is a biased notion in that it refers to very practical, down-to-earth actions which ensure that the weak, the poor and the socially disadvantaged are cared for, whether they ‘deserve’ it or not. God always acts justly and he calls on people to do the same. JOY Joy is a quality of being rather than just an emotion and so although it is related to being happy it is more fundamental and can be sustained when happiness is (hopefully temporarily) diminished. Joy also comes from participating in God’s ministry in the world and from seeing lives being positively changed and relationships enhanced. Although it will never be the subject of legislation joy is an essential social value. Society should celebrate that which enhances its corporate life but not when this is at the expense of other groups or nations. SERVICE Properly understood, service is a revolutionary concept. The call to serve one another in love stands in start contrast to the normal human desire for position and preference and all notions of ‘freedom’ where that is understood as the ability to do what suits me, or my family or group best. The notion of service calls individuals to lay these things aside for the needs of others. It is also an important value for all social relationships. It shows that meaning is found in service rather than in self-centredness. PEACE The biblical concept of peace is different in many ways from modern descriptions of it. Peace understood as the absence of war is only one part of a much broader concept that includes peace with God, positive harmony and healthy functioning between people and spiritual as well as material security. Peace is a wholeness, a state of well-being.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 17:17:28 +0000
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