Faithful Friday: Love One Another

When the boys were little we counted down the days to Christmas by building Santa's beard.  Each day their chubby fingers would grab a cotton ball, ask for a dot of glue, and stick it to the construction paper face of St. Nick.

Now we have a Hallmark ornament that is flipped with the passing of each day. 
"5 days until" dangles from our tree. 

The next several days will be filled with busy.  Good busy.  Fun busy.  Holiday busy.

Shopping for goodies to make cookies, candy and stocking stuffers.  Date night with hubby, which I've been looking forward to all month.  Christmas Eve candle-lighting service at church.  Forming all those goodies into seasonal delights.  Driving around to view the lights, hot cocoa in hand.  PJs, appetizers and movie-fest.  And of course, the big day, celebrating the birth of our Savior!

But the celebratory countdown has been tainted whenever I peruse the social media news feed.  A recent story and comments by Duck Dynasty star, Phil Robertson, has created a slurry of mixed emotions.  No matter what side you stand on, there's no excuse for the hatred and anger that is being doled out. 

Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, whether you agree with them or not.

Being that this blog is all about joy, I'm not about to jump on the mud-slinging bandwagon.  I'll just add that I don't believe Phil said what he did out of hate.  Some of his comments were harsh; but as a writer, I also know how things can be paraphrased and taken out of context.  Some of his comments though were from scripture, which is Truth, no matter how hard or politically incorrect it is to hear. 

What I'm against is that because his comments involved his faith/beliefs, and offended some, he's under attack.  Yet people like Kanye West can compare what he does as an entertainer to that of a soldier and nobody cares.  And the world doesn't seem to blink when Miley Cyrus dances in her underwear on tv; instead she trends on Twitter and her record sales increase. 

Again, I'm not judging.  It isn't my place to.  We're all sinners.  Those of us who accept and believe in Jesus Christ are just saved by his grace.  Doesn't make us any better than anyone else.  Doesn't excuse the sins we've done.  It just gives us assurance for our future.

What stood out most to me in Robertson's interview was a line that has been lost in this media firestorm and it's maybe the most important sentence from the story. 

“You put in your article that the Robertson family really believes strongly that if the human race loved each other and they loved God, we would just be better off. We ought to just be repentant, turn to God, and let’s get on with it, and everything will turn around.”

That, and the fact that the interviewer openly admits to being godless. 
His comment is perhaps the saddest of all.

As we draw nearer to this Christmas, let us pause and remember why we celebrate the season.  And realize, wherever you stand, stereo-typing someone's beliefs is wrong.  Christmas is the most beautiful example of love and hope and should be what we are all sharing, not just the next five days, but every day of the year.

“I give you a new command: Love one another.

Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. 

By this all people will know that you are My disciples,

if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35