(05-13-2024, 09:27 PM)FlickerOfLight Wrote: You just hit the nail on the head.
I had to accept God did not love everyone.
That hit me hard.
...
That took me a while. This was a cold hard fact that I had to accept.
I accept that everyone has their own choice, and everyone makes their own choice.
I did have a period where I tried to argue these insights to others.
I learned very quickly that was an exercise in futility.
I stopped.
I accept that this is my journey and my journey alone. Like you said, I will do what I can where I can.
...
It was easier for me than for most. You see, I'm a sort of "Calvinist", and Calvinism has the concept built right into it with the doctrines of "predestination" and the related concept of "the Elect". That flows right along with what I've termed "The Sons of Seth" and "The Sons of Cain". Not necessarily physical descendants, but closer to spiritual descendants.
Now, a lot of folks reject such doctrines because they claim it interferes with the concept of free will, particularly the doctrine of Predestination... but I don't see that interference. I think folks will react, and make their choices, in accordance with their innermost natures. That doesn't mean they don't have "free will", it means they will exercise their free will in accordance with their basic makeup - lions will act like lions, lambs will act like lambs, and leopards will not change their spots. The decisions each makes do not mean they are not exercising free will in their decision, it only means they are acting in accordance with their natures when they do.
Decisions are still being made, and free will is still being exercised in those decisions.
So, for me it was an easier connection to make than it is for many - this realization that not everyone is going to act in ways that I personally consider to be their best interests. They have to act in ways that THEY consider to be in their best interests. I don't get to dictate how they act or react, BECAUSE of their "free will". It's not under my control, nor is it my decision to make for them.
I think the greatest love one human can show for another in the modern day is to give them the information they need, as you understand it - and if they want it - and then leave them alone to make their own decisions following that.
Giving that information to people who do not want it, and did not ask for it, is what constitutes "casting pearls before swine".
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