Letter to the Editor: Our loving God sets standards to live by

Editor:

Pam Hillery's statement that (her) "God is a loving God" saddens me. It implies that those who oppose same-sex marriage believe in a God who isn't. But our God is also loving; He is also just, and He knows that boundaries are necessary. Or was He just kidding when He handed down those pesky commandments?  At any rate, I have been unable to find Pam's nonjudgmental God in the Bible.

When we live our lives to please ourselves, are we guilty of idolatry? Are we loving ourselves above all, rather than God? Is it significant that the first Commandment addresses idolatry? Pam seems to think that because God loves us, all will be forgiven — and it will, but on His terms, not ours. 

God loves us, but He expects us to love Him in return. He expects us to demonstrate our love for Him by leading lives that please Him, rather than grieve Him. Even Jesus said "The Father loves Me because I obey Him" (John 15:10, my paraphrase). That is a sobering statement if we truly think about it.

No doubt there are those in the gay community who are not troubled by a God they refuse to believe in. But denial of His existence neither negates His reality nor His authority. While we all fall short in our walk through this troubled world, could it be that the difference in God's eyes is whether or not sin grieves us — not just the sin of others but our own sin, as well? Is it possible that the bottom line is the condition of our heart as it relates to God?

If God does not take sin seriously, would Jesus have died that excruciating death on the cross so we could be free of sin's eternal impact? God makes the rules; we live or die by His rules.

L.W. Park

Havre