EXPLORE
GOD'S LOVE
What
if Christian teachings fill me with feelings of guilt and
worthlessness?
Then
move to another teaching.
No
one left the presence of Jesus feeling worthless. And any sense
of guilt was immediately healed with his loving acceptance. Christian
teachings should leave you with feelings of thankfulness and
joy. When you are loved absolutely, infinitely, without qualification
or limit, you are healed and forgiven from feelings of guilt,
and you are granted infinite worth.
There
is an emotion of holy awe that accepts the wonder of such divine
benevolence with humble reverence. Healthy guilt is a motivation
for facing reality truthfully in order to let God's forgiving
light shine into our darkness. Once revealed it is healed, and
we can begin again with courage to change. Any
guilt beyond whatever brings us to free repentance is a false
guilt that usually leads to pride. And any emotion
bordering on worthlessness -- except the mystical experience
of disappearing into the oneness of the divine -- is probably
pathological and life denying.
--The
Rev. Lowell Grisham
Christianity
is a religion of joy that invites every human being to experience
liberation from feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and worthlessness.
More than underscoring our shortcomings, the teachings of Jesus
open for us a deep appreciation of God's unfathomable love for
every person. God's
love does not depend on how good we are, how bright or promising,
how conscientious or even caring. It's hard to believe, but God
loves us just because we are. How do we know
this? Jesus, God Incarnate, demonstrates this in his interaction
with people.
Jesus
surrounded himself with the "losers" of his day: prostitutes,
tax collectors (hated because they cheated the public), lepers
(their disease made them total outcasts), and the poor and disadvantaged.
His primary followers were a group of motley fishermen, whom
he promised would learn to "fish for people." These
followers often misunderstood Jesus, and when Jesus was being
persecuted, they deserted and denied him. Jesus was amazingly
patient, always forgiving, always meeting people on their own
terms. He was slow to condemn and quick to bring out the best
even in the least likely people. Their transformations came as
a result of their gradual appreciation for the mystery of God's
love for them. If God could accept and love them despite their
sins and shortcomings, perhaps they could learn to accept and
love themselves!
Jesus
does hold up ideals that are never possible to fully emulate
here on earth. His desire is to bring out the best in each of
us not to lay some guilt trip. Even those whom we call "saints" (the
holy ones) are hardly without faults. What
makes someone a saint is not their goodness but the quality of
their love of others. Those who live more and
more for others, who like Jesus extend themselves to respect
and value every other person, are God's saints.
Ironically,
it is often when we do feel inadequate or sinful that God's love
and grace come to reassure us and turn us around. "Blessed
are those who know their need of God, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven." Matthew 5:3. What is important to God is not
our perfection, as if that were possible, but our understanding
that we need God in order to find our deepest selves. When we
know our need of God, we understand that the world does not rest
on our shoulders, that someone loves us deeply despite our many
warts, that we will never be alone, and that our life is not
a test we have to pass. Rather, life is a relationship with God
we simply have to live.
--The
Right Rev. Robert W. Ihloff
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