God is Love

by The Rebel 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  The Rebel

  On my my way to work today I had a tract with the words " God is love" thrust in my hand by a young man, of some church denomination. Now if I were to give the tract to a " witness" he would find the tract repulsive, repellent, blasphemous." In fact if I I were a witness I would be punished for reading such material.
  

  Why would this be? Because according to a witness the message in the tract " God is love" is designed to deliver an apostate message, it is designed to deprave and corrupt the mind of the witness. Personally I am sure the young man who thrust the tract in my hand had no intention to deprave and corrupt anybody he gave tracts to this morning.

  Anyway the reason for the O.P was I was fascinated by how this seemingly innocuous phrase " God is love" can cause so much temperament and difference of opinion, even in Christian churches. But more importantly I wondered what this phrase " God is love" now means to me?

  I concluded for me the phrase " God is love" are words, merely words. Maybe tomorrow I will on my way to work have thrust in to my hand by a well intended Christian of a different denomination a tract" God is truth." Oh dear! such zealousness reminds me of my former self. Anyway I think the phrase " God is love" must have some standard of reference, With the Witnesses it was Armegeddon and the destruction of the majority of people in my neighborhood. I must have been completely mad, insane and unloving to have once belived and delivered that message to those people in my neighborhood.

  I have during writting this O.P tried to reform my thinking and think positively of the young man who thrust the tract in my hand today, maybe his church is less harmless than the organisation? But in conclusion would you not agree if we had continued delivering our message " God is love" that in so doing our life had been a failure?
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  Chook

  JWs say God is love by killing all you people who celebrate their birthdays.They forgot angels celebrated Jesus birth .Big party in heaven
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  The Rebel

  Yes Chook, and in my personal life, I think I have learnt the law of love outside of religion.
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  The Rebel

  Double post, so how do I fill an empty box? Love is boundless, selfless, and a deep concern for the other persons happiness. I don't believe we need religion to archive that.

  or maybe I like the phrase " love is without make-up" and certainly in the " truth" love was presented with a lot of make up and very little inner beauty.
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  rebelfighter

  Rebel,

  I wake up this morning, it is 4 AM here, and the last thing I expect to see on this forum is "God is Love". Every time I have said that on this forum I have gotten blasted.

  Here goes and I totally expect the dislike button to be hit multiple times. I believe in God, I am very spiritual and do not and have not believed in Religion for 15 years because I believe they are all man made and I do not believe in the Bible.

  Funny thing is over the 5 years the "Elder" and I talked we discussed my spirituality and how I worshipped God and he knew I was really into Gospel music. We talked about all the songs that really lifted me up. I knew no better and he never told me maybe once he said oh that is something we would not listen to because of the cross. Oh now I have figured out there are a lot more he would not listen to LOL.

  When the "Elder" sent me the email "Good Bye, Have a Nice Life" . We then exchanged 20 days of emails. Mine were very simple just bible verses of love, charity and giving maybe a quarter of a page. One day I defended all my charity charity work and asked him how in God's eyes that could possibly be wrong when all we do is helping children and abused women. His were 2 to 3 page sermons as to why I read the Bible wrong on love, charity and giving. He told me I needed to read the Book of Acts. So I did, ok I read it. It clearly states meet your accuser eye to eye. I have caught you in a string of lies. Why are you refusing? I asked that question in every email. Never an answer.

  My best girlfriend is an Ordained Minister and she was reading these with me neither of us could make a lick of sense out of any of these sermons.

  Finally I just said answer my initial email and all the questions or I am reporting you.
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  rebelfighter

  Love is unconditional. Love is from the heart. Love is putting the needs of the other person before yourself. Love is forgetting to think of the long term consequences both financially and emotionally. (This last one has gotten me many times). My family and friends tell me I have much to caring and loving heart.
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  The Rebel

  Rebelfighter " ..the last thing I expect to see on this forum is " God is love" Everytime I have said that on this forum I have got blasted"

  The Rebel A) I am glad you have your faith and that it is something important to you.

  I enthusiastically await being amused by those who don't read my O.P and blast me, thinking this athiest belives God is love. However it was worth starting the O.P to have you a poster so clever and much admired by myself voice her faith. I like reading stories of people's spirituality, as I am not sure if I am not a little spiritual myself. I qualify that by saying I believe the mind has power we do not entertain.

  p.s I couldn't give your second post a green thumbs up, because love is most definitely NOT " forgetting to think of the long term consequences, both financially and emotionally" in fact I would say it's the exact opposite :-)
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  rebelfighter

  Rebel,

  Sometimes unconditional love and forgiveness and a caring heart is not a good combination. I tried with all my heart to love my mother there is no way possible to tell you how many times I have forgiven her but she was my mother. It was only upon the insistence of the County Sheriff, Social Services and the "Elder" and the fact I watched a large savings account drain dry that she is in a nursing home for MY safety. She beat me up as a child and then as a violent ALZ patient.

  I believe (who knows why) the marriage vows - 40 years. He has no blood relatives willing to care for him. We are legally separated, he lived with another woman for 6 years until he had a massive stroke. She moved her ex into my husband home that night. He was always verbally abusive and in those 40 years probably worked 10 years total. Neither of our kids will talk to him. He now lives in my house, I am the POA and care giver. Life insurance is paid up to date. He is no longer verbally abusive for the better part because he knows when I say there is the front door I mean it because I showed it before and he knows good and we'll I mean business.

  And that's the life of a caring loving heart.
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  The Rebel

  Thanks Rebelfighter, it must have taken great courage to write that post. Thanks for giving so much of your inner self to this O.P. I am sorry your savings account was drained on medical bills in a " Christian country." I believe in a free medical service, and I think this should be subsidized by each citizens tax whether or not they ever personally gain from it.

  Glad I started the O.P. And I believe if a person believes " God is love" or if a person doesn't believe "God is love" we should all believe " A free National Health Service" is LOVE.

  p.s I think " compound and complex" recently started a thread about personalities on the board, and it's the personalities behind what we believe which make posting worthwhile.
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  rebelfighter

  Rebel,

  LOL, I did not spend the savings account on medical my mom had good insurance. Here is the rest of the crazy part of the story. I have a Princess sister LOL she is the other half of the POA for my mother. In order to get through my life i have developed a sense of humor about these things. When my mother started to go downhill she lived 4 states away. The Princess only talked to mom on the phone for 3 years daily "there is nothing wrong with her". Me: then why am I getting calls from drs, neighbors, the association security and police that someone needs to get down there and check on her?.

  I made 10 trips in 9 months. 15 hours in one direction and ended up paying some of her past due bills so utilities would not get cut off. Of course the Princess would not reimburse me because this was all in my imagination. When we finally moved her, still to this day she swears on a stack of Bibles that Mother's Alz came about the "Day" we moved her and not one day before. Just like a light switch. Amazing!

  Oh, I might add the Princess is a walking pharmacy of drugs, she keeps them solidly in business. She is my third person who I continually have forgiven throughout my life. She has no problem calling me names like liar and thief in front of lawyers and bankers. When she leaves the room we have a very good laugh because they know I am bonded and licensed to do business in my field and that she personally has stolen from me.

  Yeap, never a JW but there has been periods of as long as 6 months where I have shunned these people but when I showed back up there behavior did improve for awhile because they knew who had the checkbook. Shame on me.