Choices, Sin, and Belittlement...

I read a book today, and the author’s afterword brought me to tears. The book is called Wolves Among Us by Ginger Garrett, and anyone (especially women) who enjoy historical fiction should really look into her books. Yes, I enjoyed her novel, but what touched me was the Truth that the author presented afterward.

The burning of witches in the name of God; how easily we are deceived. I never understood why people have been so enthralled throughout the ages with torture, with hangings, with burning, with death. Our sinful hearts long to see pain inflicted on others to make us feel justified for our own pain. We are fascinated by the pain and darkness of the world, even while we are afraid of it.

And when we do not understand something as Christians, we often lash out, claiming ourselves as righteous and declaring all else as that of Satan.

Who are we to judge others? Who are we to stand with a whip to beat the children of God, to “purge” them of their sins so that they may go to the Lord clean?

When we claim to “purge” any person of their sin, when we take the credit for ourselves or take matters into our own hands, we spit in the face of our Father. He sent His son to certain death, for crimes He did not commit. He sent Him to a life of pain and humanity. He did it for us, to save us, Christ sacrificed Himself for us and here we are constantly trying to take the credit from Him.

And anyone who is different from us can surely not be from God. We are the Western Civilization, we are a Christian society, so we must be right, and the rest of the world wrong.

But we cannot judge what is in another’s heart, and those of us who know the Truth, but toss it aside day in and day out will be the ones most harshly punished.

Back to the book though, it is a book about the burning of witches. It is about the Word of God, of people trying desperately to learn about Him and His love, and how easily half-truths can bring destruction. What hit me the hardest was a quote from another author within the afterword.

“Gender differences come in handy when we find ourselves baffled by those closest to us. Isn’t it so much easier to blame something we can’t control for our problems? For instance, when a man and a woman get close (this is especially true in marriage), they discover those annoying differences about each other. Wouldn’t we rather locate these irreconcilable differences in gender or sex instead of personal growth? I’ve often heard married couples give up understanding or intimacy by discounting the baffling differences in the opposite sex – “Oh, men are all like that,”  or, “Maybe this is just a woman thing.” Instead we could push into knowing one another and realize most of the gender differences are due to culture, family of origin, personality, or unique life experiences.”

The witch trials were based on this principle: the differences between men and women, and wanting to pass blame rather than admit that our sin is our own. We chose to do the things we do, we make that decision, alone. We must take that responsibility, God has given us free will. But if we wish to be forgiven, we must chose that as well; for ourselves.

Men and women are so very different, and yet we were made in beauty, we were made by a loving God who finds us pleasing. When we look closely, we are not different at all, we all are the children of the Most High God, we all sin, make wrong choices, and we must learn that we must become weak in order for Him to live in us and make us strong. In the Bible, God used men and women, and so today He uses both. How silly of us to try to belittle one gender or the other when God uses both for His purpose. We belittle God’s purpose when we belittle each other. We are but mere humans, how can we ever understand the depth of greatness of God? And how dare we try to belittle His plans when He has given us so much and His understanding far exceeds our own?

You are beloved, no matter what you do, no matter what gender or race or background. So why not start acting like you are the beloved of the Lord, God?