Yes, doing His will.

Humans have a free will each, but if you use that free will to do something independent and which is not congruent with God's Will, then of course you burn in hellfire for all eternity.

This is a funny religion we live in.

Man... hats off to you if you know God.

God is infinetely complex. Man is limited in his ability of gaining and containing knowledge.

If you think these are true, then no man can know god.

However, if you say that these are not true, then one or the other must be true:

1. God is not infinitely complex
2. You are a man whose mind is infinite in its capacity of gaining and containging knowledge.

If you know God, you already know everything, if 2. is right.

So... what was my favourite teacher's name in grade seven? The one I wanted to know in a biblical sense so badly that my every bone ached for her?

for me, it means revering God and obeying his commands, keeping his word, revering him as my creator, it also means serving his creations (mankind) with love

setting before him good deeds and good intents and a good heart, giving the credit to him and appreciating what he gives by using it to further aknowledge and credit him

Thanks Wux, I do understand what you are saying and I admit you put a unique spin on it that I had not thought of (that of a service station). Thanks for your input.

Thank you Misty, so because all humans are vulnerable and our vulnerability is subject to change then Christians should be making every effort to assure that all poeple have the same freedoms, the same access to goods and services that fill the needs and meet the requirements of human rights equality.

Does that sound correct to you? What about to everyone else?

S

How do you know what his will is? I mean once you get past the demand of belief and worshiping how do you know what you should be doing to serve god - CERTAINLY the only purpose to life cannot be to worship god - can it? Even athiests can find a lot more purpose in life than that.

One of the great pieces of 'common sense' that permeates my family's attitude is "If you don't take care of you first, you can't help anyone else."

So definately we need to serve ourselves first by doing what will keep us healthy, happy and capable of continuing to help ourselves and others.

But how should you serve humanity?

Nicely put and I see how this could be considered one way in which Chirstians might believe they were meant to serve god.

But what is the point of serving 'humanity'? In other words, why should we be considerate of our fellow humans and how far should that consideration extend?

But that's exactly how a child thinks - "What (reward) is in it for me".

Stop hitting your sister (Why?) Please pick-up your toys. (Why?)

In each case the why refers to what will I gain OR what adverse reaction can I avoid.

Teach a child that love is dependent variable (it's dependent on behavior) and that child will "learn" to love a god and learn to distrust humans. That serves no one because love from god is conditional and love from humans cannot be trusted so what sevice will such a person provide - what purpose dose their life serve?

life serves the purpose of learning and growing,,,
love is not dependent upon behavior but consequence is

my parents loved me my whole life, yet they still disciplined me and they still taught me how to treat others and what treatment I was worth by others

If I had a child/husband/friend, whom I loved, but every time they drank they hauled off and wailed on my face

they would have to be out of my life unless/until their behavior changed, it would have nothing to do with whether I still loved them though, it would be a consequence of their actions,,

Oh my - not exactly creation for creations sake is it.

Most children love to "create" with crayons, colord pencils, markers and they will spend much time in this endeavor and proudly show all who are intersted thier new creations.

But pay a child with a reward of value and soon the child looses interest, and tends to scribble in discontent out of oblication, or just stops coloring altogether.

The point is - the child created for creatsions sake and not for reward. Yet a god asks for bountiful praise, uncontested and unrivaled love and honor and continued service of same for his handiwork (which is not always so wonderful, ask the handicapped).

Then there's the reply about a child's thinking of "what's in it for me" Oh yes, so then god offers a positive reinforcement (eternal life) or a negative reinforcement (avoid hell by believing and serving with praise, worship and honor).

Well, some believe that humans were created in the image of god - and the fact that those people believe we are treated like children makes gods childish traits more apparent.

I am a part of my parents, yet there are things about my parents that are nothing like me

I consider humans much less evolved and wise than God, and I dont feel we were a creation for creations sake but a creation for the sake of glorifying God, being an extension of his love and grace


but to each their own,,in their belief and endeavors..

Separating the physical form from the personality (love the sinnner BS) is simply a way to quell the dissonance between belief and your behavior.

I love you but not your behavior so you are out of my life.

I love you but not your actions so you will not be treated with the same consideration I would give others whose actions I approve of.

I love you unconditionally, unless you don't love me the same way.

Tell me - what happens when you don't like gods behavior? God makes people to suffer - but you never hold him responsible for his actions.

There is obviously a double standard applied to love - love humans one way and god another. Is that an admission that humans are here NOW and can harm you NOW, so you must protect yourself but god is not here and can neither protect or harm you NOW?

Unconditional love does not mean you have to 'like' the person or what the person has become by his or her own choosing. Unconditional love does not mean you have to put up with a person, or abide or accept his bad behavior.

Unconditional love is compassion and the sincere hope that person will find happiness and health. It does not require you to hang out with them.

Bad behavior is like disease. It is dysfunctional and unbalanced. It is a symptom of the lack of inner love. It is a sign of self hate. Sometimes it is cured or overcome. Sometimes people can change.




Do you mean "what happens when you don't like god's behavior? Does God really make people suffer? How do you know? How do you know what God's behavior is?



Of course there are many different kinds of love. One of my threads asked the question "How does one love God if they have never seen him or met him?"

I think to love God is to hold love in your heart and to hold no hate for anyone. When you do that, your behavior will reflect that love to all you encounter.

not at all, loving others does not require us to stop loving ourself enough to expect certain treatment and respect, we can love those who choose not to give us either but that doesnt mean we have to have them in our life


there IS such a thing as loving from a distance

of course IM not going to treat/react the same way to someone who gives me a hug as to someone who hits me,,thats nothing unreasonable and nothing to do with love,,,

And who decides what bad behavior is?

You say 'bad behavior is like a disease and it's dysfunctional and unbalanced' - how can you say that unless YOU are the one dictating what bad behavior is?

In the Christian faith, the individual is the one deciding what behavior is good or bad.

For example: MsHarmony says



Yet in the past she has also said that she does not force her children to feel that same way. I have to wonder if her children do not believe as she does if she would still love them or if one believed and another did not would she treat them differently?

As I said JB - bad behavior can be a subjective social norm or just subjective.

You know the 'bad behavior' that causes you to divorce the personality from the physical body does not have to involve you, does it? So what would be bad enough behavior, on the part of one of your children for you to treat that child differently -- to NOT reward that child with your 'gifts' or you presence or your support?

What is the child became an athiest or converted to the Jewish faith or simply came out of the closet? Would any of those thing force you to alter your gifts, presence or support?

there is certainly no IF to ponder here, there are things I believe which my children do not, and I will always love them and encourage them to live healthy , loving lives

whether they agree what is healthy and loving, is not a matter that will change that I love them, or that (because of that love) IM always going to root for what I think is their BEST outcome,,,

no, their feelings and beliefs, IMHO, are not something anyone can TRULY know besides them and their creator,, and sometimes they arent even that sure,,lol

what would alter my support (financially) is if I knew they were using that support in ways that harmed them, or their spiritual or physical health

but I would still love them

what would alter my support (presence) is if they were INVOLVED in ACTIVITY that was counterproductive, or harmful to their spiritual or physical health, I would not agree to be INCLUDED in those activities during the times they were engaging

but I would still love them

I have friends who smoke pot, I love them, they are breaking the law, and I will not be in their presence WHILE They are in the COMMISSION of breaking the law, but otherwise our relationship would still survive because of all the other moments when they werent

and I would still love them