zenosanalytic:

beatrice-otter:

ablogaboutgodandlove:

ablogaboutgodandlove:

If your Christianity is defined by who you hate, it’s not Christianity 

“Whoever says, “I love God,” but hates his brother is a liar. The one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love the God whom he has not seen.” – 

1 John 4:19-20

“He who said he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness.” – 

1 John 2:8-11

“Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.” – 

1 John 3:14-15

“

You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the children of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself” –  Leviticus 19:17-18

“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” –  Proverbs 10:12

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God.” – 1 John 4:7

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” – 

Ephesians 4:31

Says who? Says the bible, my friend. 

25 Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ²⁶He said to him, ‘What is written in the law? What do you read there?’ ²⁷He answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ ²⁸And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’

29 But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbour?’ ³⁰Jesus replied, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. ³²So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³But a Samaritan while travelling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. ³⁴He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. ³⁵The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.” ³⁶Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?’ ³⁷He said, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’

Let us remember, when reading this passage, that the very idea that a Samaritan could have been “good” would have been scoffed at by Jesus’ original audience.  The Samaritans were what remained of the Northern Kingdom of Israel after it had been conquered and its people enslaved and the important people carried off into exile and replaced by settlers from other parts of the Assyrian Empire.  (Unlike the Southern Kingdom of Judah, nobody returned from exile.)  They technically worshiped the same God, but on Mount Samaria, instead of Mount Zion, and they only accepted the first five books of the Bible as scripture, and you know how a lot of times people are more upset by someone who disagrees with them who is sort of like them than they are by someone who is just completely different?  Yeah.  In those days, Jewish people and Samaritans REALLY did not like one another.  They did not drink from the same wells.  They did not speak to one another.  If Jewish people in Jesus’ day hated anybody, they hated Samaritans and Romans.

So this guy comes up to Jesus, and asks what he should do to inherit life.

And Jesus gives a quite clear, simple, straighforward answer: Love.  Love God, and love your neighbor.

And the guy tries to weasel out of it, by asking for a definition for “neighbor.”

So Jesus tells a story in which the good guy is a Samaritan (knowing just how much bad blood there was), and says “him.  He’s your neighbor, and you should totally follow his example, because EVERY HUMAN BEING EVER IS YOUR NEIGHBOR AND YOU SHOULD LOVE THEM, YOU HATEFUL MORON.”

Says who?  Says Jesus.

I try not to post about religion very often, but these posts were just Too Good to not reblog u_u