on the subject of faith
From the book Evolving in Monkey Town:
"Jesus came to offer more than just salvation from hell. I realized this when I encountered Jesus the radical rabbi and reexamined my life in light of his teachings. When I imagined what it would be like to give generously without wondering what is in it for me, to give up my grudges and learn to diffuse hatred with love, to stop judging people once and for all, to care for the poor and seek out the downtrodden, to finally believe that stuff can't make me happy, to give up my urge to gossip and manipulate, to worry less about what other people think, to refuse to retaliate no matter the cost, to be capable of forgiving to the point of death, to live as Jesus lived and love as Jesus loved, one word came to mind: liberation. Following Jesus would mean liberation from my bitterness, my worry, my self-righteousness, my prejudices, my selfishness, my materialism, and my misplaced loyalties. Following Jesus would mean salvation from my sin.
What I'm trying to say is that while I still believe Jesus died to save us from our sins, I'm beginning to think that Jesus also lived to save us from our sins."
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"Jesus came to offer more than just salvation from hell. I realized this when I encountered Jesus the radical rabbi and reexamined my life in light of his teachings. When I imagined what it would be like to give generously without wondering what is in it for me, to give up my grudges and learn to diffuse hatred with love, to stop judging people once and for all, to care for the poor and seek out the downtrodden, to finally believe that stuff can't make me happy, to give up my urge to gossip and manipulate, to worry less about what other people think, to refuse to retaliate no matter the cost, to be capable of forgiving to the point of death, to live as Jesus lived and love as Jesus loved, one word came to mind: liberation. Following Jesus would mean liberation from my bitterness, my worry, my self-righteousness, my prejudices, my selfishness, my materialism, and my misplaced loyalties. Following Jesus would mean salvation from my sin.
What I'm trying to say is that while I still believe Jesus died to save us from our sins, I'm beginning to think that Jesus also lived to save us from our sins."
The conversation's happening over at Dreamwidth. Feel free to comment there using OpenID. (
comments so far)