@Frank Apisa,
Quote: Where did Jesus teach people to develop character in their lives?
Quote:Not everyone who says to Me,"'Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. (22) Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" (23) And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (24) "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: (25) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. (26) "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: (27) and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
Matthew 7:21-28
Without good character, you are like someone who built their house on the sand. If you've seen a sandcastle, you already know the punchline of this story, building a real house is not much different.
If I say "I will follow God," but when hardship comes, and I betray all that this stands for, I am much like someone with no character. I have built my character on sand.
Quote:If you want to dodge the question...just dodge it. No need to play games pretending you are answering it without actually doing so.
I have already told you, "I desire mercy not sacrifice." He quoted Hosea 6:6.
No, I'm not going to tell you the stock answer "love others as yourself." Mercy, not sacrifice. Already answered the question. And what does this mean?
The secular world, and much of the Jewish, and in fact most of the world agrees on the same message. Follow the rules, and set aside your desires. This is what this world tells you is important. They offer incentives in fact, if you agree and go along. High salaries, all sorts of material gifts, all to set aside your actual dreams and to hate yourself. Always with the compromises, sacrifices, and learning about doing your duty. They are quick to quote Romans 13, as if it's a blanket mandate to support totalitarian regimes.
When the Nazi or Commie groups come, they all say "we were only following orders." Or "the government told us that we needed to make sacrifices." And what were these sacrifices, hmmmm? Oh wait, they were the lives and freedom of other human beings.
Mercy, not sacrifice. If you really love your neighbor as yourself, you love yourself too damned much to sacrifice it to some stupid ideal. There is only one ideal worth sacrificing for and this is for the mercy of generations to come. Not because the state said so, not for the "greater good", but because you wanted to die on a cross so that many others will live in freedom. The only decent sacrifice is one made willingly, and one made for the mercy of others.
But here, here it is, if you want to be executed, climb on up. If you think that we all need to compromise a bit to get along in the world, then you also should climb up the cross. Tell others how much you are sacrificing while missing the point of the cross.
Or you could start by admitting that it's okay to love yourself, and it's okay to cut slack to other people.
