And the Greatest of These is Love

My two best chances...

I haven't talked much about topics like this on my blog, but I would not be true to myself if I did not write today about the subject that is front and center on my heart.

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about equality - A teenage boy was asked to leave a boy scout camp in Missouri this week when he came out about being gay - The president of Chick-fil-a recently announced the company's anti-gay stance - I listened to a radio clip of a representative for Salvation Army stating it is their company's belief that gay people deserve to be put to death... all of these done in the name of Christ.

For a girl who loves Jesus and loves to blog, I am struggling to find the right words today. It just makes me all the more determined to raise my children to stand up for equality and to speak up when they know someone is being harmed.

Tyler and I know that Aliyah and Everly are the greatest tools God has given us to spread the beauty of His Grace. He has tasked us with the responsibility of molding and shaping them into adults. It is our role as parents to teach them to protect and fight for the downtrodden and the outcast and to pray that someone does the same for them should they ever fall into that category.

God’s love is not shown in the person who knows the most bible verses. It is not felt in the person who casts judgments on who is worthy and who is not. It is not spread with the removal of basic rights for our neighbors.

God’s love grows when we live it in action. When we share His word through our encounters with others, through our charity, our forgiveness, and through sacrifice.

We spread His love when we give, not when we take.

I think about how these announcements and this behavior could impact my children. I can not predict who they will grow up to be. who they will love. I can not predict if or when they will get married or have children of their own - and it is my duty as their mother to do everything in my power to act against ignorance that could negatively impact their future rights.

God gave His children free will so that we could make our own choices. He already took the ultimate punishment for those who so many are still trying to punish (Thanks Ben Rodda for that reminder). He also gave us His word to guide our lives and today, these scriptures are weighing so deeply on me:

Matthew 25:40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

and this one

Romans 13:10: Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

and especially this one:

Peter 4:8: Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Please do not take away the rights of our fellow citizens. It is not loving our neighbors. It is not protecting the weak, the minority, “the least of these”. Please stop throwing stones.

I hope that love will lead you today and always.