Loving God?

[hungrypossum]

Then I apologize if you think I'm passing judgement and I won't comment on your circumstance again. To clarify, faith is not just our belief in God but what we believe he thinks about us. I trust that the Creator left a handbook for his creation.

 

[millerm277]

Hey, homosexuality is a choice so its a sin, its not your being. No, God doesn't hate YOU for what you chose to become. Sin = the choices you made that was a disobedience to God. Ask yourself very honestly. When you "feel" for a member the same sex as you, is it because you find them physically attractive? appearance wise? because that's not really love, its more like lust. lust isnt healthy. Often, when we lust for someone, all we want to do is erm... @#$%^ them. We may not even know what their characteristic is.

Well, I don't "feel" for members of the same sex, but...

I certainly have lusted after members of the opposite sex, and there have been 1 or 2 that I've actually loved. I don't see why it would work any different for gays. There certainly seemed to be plenty of people while I was walking through San Francisco that actually loved each other.

Really loving someone can take a long time. Real kinda love should feel like a really good, warm friendship, it is respect and honour. Someone who loves you isnt' thinking of taking off your clothes most of the time, but wants the best for you. They wouldn't be thinking for themself.

I agree with all of that, but why do you seem to think that is only possible for relationships between opposite sexes?

 

[sassafrassquatch]

Why do you need all those theories and words above for? Human logic doesnt apply to God cos hes God, i can just imagine a bunch of people arguing what God is, and then he appears and they'll just be like O.O Indescribable.

You could tell me it's not about dogma and it doesn't matter what I believe as long as I love God and everyone else or whatever. Fine. Your opinion goes on the pile with thousands of others.

getting baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Did that when I was 13.

Start with Matthews in the bible.

Read that 3 years ago. Reading the bible is what turned me into an atheist. I saw that everyone reads the bible, prays and asks God for guidance and understanding. Then they arrive at completely different conclusions about what God is trying to tell us.

Then there's church

Every Sunday for the first 16 years of my life.

 

[millerm277]

Yea but there have been homosexuals stated in the bible, thats about 2000 years ago. There have been generations and generations of them despised. If let's say I'm homo today, and I wait 50 years to raise my mantle and head up to society, i've lived 50 years despised.

Well, if I recall my history correctly...in ancient rome/greece, and many other societies, homosexuality was considered normal. Also, if I remember correctly, African people were treated as slaves for hundreds of years by western powers.

I'd rather live 50 years despised than 50 years living a false life.

 

[hungrypossum]

it occured to me one day that contracts in the bible held before God are sealed in blood. For example, Jesus was God's contract before the world as a price for the sins.

in marriage, usually, and i say usually, you swear before God that you will honour and uphold this contract. We were made in such a way, that when men and women have sex the first time, virgin blood is sign of the sealage of the marriage contract.

in Genesis, it is mentioned that Eve was made as a helper to Adam. So women are made as men's helpers. it means that if you trust in God's plan for you like i do, the perfect person God chose for us in life is among the opposite sex.

 

[Kiddo]

Then I apologize if you think I'm passing judgement and I won't comment on your circumstance again. To clarify, faith is not just our belief in God but what we believe he thinks about us. I trust that the Creator left a handbook for his creation.

Then that is where we disagree. Because I believe the Bible was written by men. Men inspired by God, but with closed hearts.

And I'll tell you this. The moment I realized God, he changed the way I see people and the world. And ever since that day, I've never been able to truly judge anyone. Because the moment I decide that somebody is wrong, and that they are unforgivable, I feel God within me, urging me to open my heart, so that I may try to understand them. That has been his greatest gift to me. Because no matter how much I disagree with anyone (even libertarians ) I can always see within their hearts.

And in this way, God taught me the true nature of sin. Sin is to judge others. It is to close your heart and choose to see them for what you believe they are and not for what you can see in their hearts. That is ultimately the only choice that man makes. And it is a sin that every man commits. But by choosing to open our hearts, we are truly living as God intended.

 

[hungrypossum]

Sassa: because the holy spirit also doesnt force things into your head if you dont want it. it can also drain out of us.

if you do want God, then you'll feel the holy spirit's tug. i was baptized at 16, and spent the next 4 years at bars every weekend. never went back to church or really believed till last year. Sometimes, God speaks to us in really wierd ways. it can be something like this. a total wierdo talking to you on a forum telling you about God.

For me, hearing about God again last year, since I rejected the INTP girl who impressed me so much I decided to believe again, was when I randomly walked into class, and for no reason at all, turned to the guy next to me and said: I need a new computer. He was like...hey I build them. I was like @_@ He said, meet me after school, and we'll go to East Malvern and i'll show you a computer shop we can buy computer parts. The tram ride was so long, that on the way I found out he was from Planetshakers city church...and the rest was history.

 

[hungrypossum]

In knowing God, the most important thing I learnt, is that I'm only 21 years old. Not very wise, not clever, quite a ditz, ignorant of everything. So I don't trust my own wisdom. I choose to trust the bible.

I trust that God annoints men to do his work. Though I'm a real clown, here I am speaking for him. He can use everyone. Even my parents. They didn't know they were gonna have me, but they werent' forced. They had some..pleasure in making me. God's plan still went on so they could have me as a kid

 

[Kiddo]

In knowing God, the most important thing I learnt, is that I'm only 21 years old. Not very wise, not clever, quite a ditz, ignorant of everything. So I don't trust my own wisdom. I choose to trust the bible.

I trust that God annoints men to do his work. Though I'm a real clown, here I am speaking for him. He can use everyone. Even my parents. They didn't know they were gonna have me, but they werent' forced. They had some..pleasure in making me. God's plan still went on so they could have me as a kid

As I said, if you truly know God then you will know there are many paths. Not just the one you followed. And fortunately, if I humble myself enough to listen, God will always share his wisdom with me. I never have to rely on just my own.

 

[swordpath]

How do you know homosexuality is a choice?

 

[hungrypossum]

and...............you truly know God and I dont.

 

[Kiddo]

and...............you truly know God and I dont.

No I never said that! I only said that he or she who truly knows God has their heart opened. When I opened my heart I came to understand that there wasn't only one path. He or she who knows God will not judge others based on what they believe about them but rather will see what lies in their hearts and love them for who they are. Because God lives within each and everyone of us, whether we realize it or not. If God has reached you through the Bible, then I'm very happy for you. That just wasn't his path for me.

 

[hungrypossum]

well, i was not born from the womb praising God and loving God. so my love for him is a choice.

if homosexuality is love like kiddo says, then it must mean that you must love the person of the opposite sex. this must mean that its a choice too.

it occured to me a few minutes ago that we had to learn our ABCs too, when we were growing up. this means that our knowledge was not our own, it was always borrowed from someone else. so i really truly wonder what "our own wisdom" means. my wisdom, as i have said, is my bible.

 

[swordpath]

:head spinning:

 

[Kiddo]

well, i was not born from the womb praising God and loving God. so my love for him is a choice.

The weird thing is, the moment I realized God, I understood that I had always loved him. Maybe we just experience God differently because we are different people.

if homosexuality is love like kiddo says, then it must mean that you must love the person of the opposite sex. this must mean that its a choice too.

I never said that homosexuality is love. I said, I need to love somebody of either sex before I can feel lust for them. You made the assumption that homosexuality is always lust, and I was just pointing out that isn't true for me.

 

[hungrypossum]

indeed our experience is very different because i'm only aware that my loving God comes through the circumstances I go through that builds up my trust in him. i did not love him immediately, i hated him all my life because i assumed he thought i was a disgusting lecherous little @#$%^, but on the other hand, i could feel his love for me. in fact, it is learning to submit to him and doing all the "difficult" things the bible tells me to do that is teaching me lessons more and more each day. it is through knowing that i am becoming (i am not yet) a stronger person that i love him more

 

[unsung truth]

you guys should kinda calm down... this has diverged in so many ways from the topic, it's ridiculous.

oughta look outside of the bible a bit... If you notice most of the things in there aren't meant to be taken literally...

 

[millerm277]

if homosexuality is love like kiddo says, then it must mean that you must love the person of the opposite sex. this must mean that its a choice too.

The point is simple. The dynamics of relationships don't change whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. You can lust after them or love them, just the same as it works with heterosexual relationships/attractions.

so i really truly wonder what "our own wisdom" means. my wisdom, as i have said, is my bible.

My wisdom (if you want to call it that ), consists of me analyzing the possible solutions I see, and going with whichever one makes the seems to make the most sense. In this case, it's much more logical for me to think that some people are just wired to be attracted to their own sex instead of the opposite one.

The alternate idea of people willingly choosing that they want to go down a path that most likely results in more hardships, such as less acceptance among peers, and possible discrimination/hostility makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

[Kiddo]

indeed our experience is very different because i'm only aware that my loving God comes through the circumstances I go through that builds up my trust in him. i did not love him immediately, i hated him all my life because i assumed he thought i was a disgusting lecherous little @#$%^, but on the other hand, i could feel his love for me. in fact, it is learning to submit to him and doing all the "difficult" things the bible tells me to do that is teaching me lessons more and more each day. it is through knowing that i am becoming (i am not yet) a stronger person that i love him more

Oh, I came to realize God through very similar circumstances. I was lost in an inescapable darkness. I hated myself and everyone, and lost all sense of purpose. And then I chose to forgive myself for all my failures, mistakes, and weaknesses, and that was all it took. The moment I was able to see my own wounded heart I felt his presence. And he healed me and I could then open my heart to the world. I could see into the hearts of others, and I realized the beauty of his world. I thought I hated him because of how he made me, and I came to understand that I really love how he made me. I love being imperfect, and knowing so little about everything. I love being bisexual, and I love having had to face so much adversity. He made me as a person who would know this world in a way that not many people would ever experience. And somehow, I realized I had always known this somehow, but I just wasn't aware of it until I was ready to accept it. I had always loved him, but I didn't realize it until I had tried to stop.

 

[hungrypossum]

You can lust after them or love them, just the same as it works with heterosexual relationships/attractions.

The sin is lust, not love. Thankfully, we cannot see what others are thinking. It would be truly frightening if someone was imagining us naked in their minds. The thing is, God can see what we're thinking.

The alternate idea of people willingly choosing that they want to go down a path that most likely results in more hardships, such as less acceptance among peers, and possible discrimination/hostility makes absolutely no sense to me.

YEP! ^^ The fact that I am treading the difficult path is what makes me a stronger person. If you're not afraid of difficulty or even death, then what make you worried fearful or sad anymore. Told ya Jesus is joy.