"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."
Whenever I'm in doubt about how to respond to a situation or how God would want me to move forward, I refer to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. This is the verse I like to refer to as the "love" verse. I replace the word "love" with the word "I" and then read it aloud, "I am patient, I am kind. I do not envy, I do not boast..." This humbling exercise reminds me just how imperfect I am and how much I need to rely on God to be the best that I can be. Even more importantly, this exercise serves as a reminder to love everyone. No one is perfect, but everyone needs love.
Amidst the horror of last week's tragedy, I fully expected America to come together and show the world that we continue to stand as one in full strength. Unlike most times, however, I saw more division than uniting. People were using the mass shooting as a platform for their political views and as an excuse to perpetuate hate. All over the Internet there were liberals blaming conservatives, and vice versa. This tragedy suddenly became an issue of guns and sins. Of course, most Christians responded with love, but others continue to cling to their homophobia. Now don't get me wrong, everyone is absolutely entitled to their opinions and beliefs, but what they aren't entitled to is taking away anyone's inalienable rights. These include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and although I am not a part of this community, I recognize these rights. Last Sunday, 49 members of the LGBTQ community were irrevocably deprived of all three of these and others in their community felt the blow. In fact, all Americans felt this heavy blow.
Our country lost precious lives last week all because the shooter was offended by something he disagreed with. He, like many Christians, believe that homosexuality is a sin. Of course, the difference between he and the majority of the population is that most of us don't kill over a disagreement. However, we do hurt people when we tell them what kind of person they are based on their sin. Maybe homosexuality is a sin -- I can't speak for God in that regard. But newsflash: we all sin. None of us are perfect and to spend all of our energy pointing out other people's imperfections only makes us hypocrites. Instead of telling people how to live their lives, we need to do something with ours. I grew up with the saying, 'people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.' For those who aren't familiar with the phrase, it means that we are hardly the epitome of a firm foundation. If we presume to judge others and point out their mistakes, someone could just as easily (if not even more easily) do the same to us. Our seemingly solid foundation is actually very easily shattered. Maybe instead of constantly telling people in the LGBTQ community that they are sinning for being themselves, we ought to choose to love them.
In the church and at home I was always taught that God doesn't make mistakes. To turn around and tell someone that they are a mistake is not what our mission is as Christians. I've lost count of all the people I've known who have hidden this part of themselves and tried to change to fit in. To shame people into changing is to assume that they have a choice in who they are. This is not how love works. "Love keeps no records of wrongs."
