Favorite bible verses

[P30]

Agape love is an attribute of God, and is largely absent from imperfect humans. Agape love is an attribute of God, and is largely absent from imperfect humans. I am not sure in the strictest sense it is even possible among us.

IMHO Jesus and God do not expect total selflessness from us.

Evidence:
1) Jesus said, love your neighbour as yourself.
2) Matthew 19:
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Means to me: Jesus-like agape is perfection. But Jesus does not expect perfection from us. Paul wrote (Epheser 2:8) and Martin Luther taught (sola gratia), God's grace is amazing. Keeping the 10 commandments is important and good.

[Darth_Uno]

Ooooh man. We just had a discussion about this at our men's group, and people were all over the place on this.

First of all, God demands perfection but forgives us even though we're not. Could just be the Calvinist in me saying that. On a silly note, this is like my cat scratching the couch. He shouldn't, but I'm still not getting rid of him. Granted, the cat (in theory) gives me other benefits, whereas God does not need me at all.

As far as "selling everything and giving to the poor", there's a lot to unpack there. It's not about whether everyone has to or should do it, this was a piercing question for this particular individual. He wouldn't have even if Jesus Himself told him to (which He did). He wasn't ready to give that up. He "went away sorrowful."

Now, let's look at the parable of the talents. The master chastised the servant who did nothing and gained nothing. So, there is nothing wrong with accumulating assets *if* you are using them to further God's kingdom. The example I used was myself. I could liquidate all my assets and my business, and give the church a nice one-time bonus. OTOH I'm no longer able to generate an income to give/tithe with, and I won't have the connections, tools, assets or income to continue to help in other ways.

No real point to this, nor am I saying anyone here disagrees. Just interesting this came up since we just talked about it.

[Darth_Uno]

Psalm 144: All of it. Verse 1 is popular, "Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle." Everyone ignores the rest of the psalm, which says that man isn't jack squat. "O Lord, what is man that you regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow." You don't see much of that on tee shirts.

Isaih 25:7-9. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth,for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

The promises here have meant more and more to me over time.

Joshua 24:14-15. "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Once again, everyone knows the last part, but the bit about the gods of the Egyptians and Amorites is very powerful to me. Joshua calls the people out on this. Sign up or go home.

[P30]

I pretty much gave up perfection. It's mostly unreachable (for humans). Can be a brake that even hinders starting.

My approach and intent is: Instead of trying to be perfect:
Do no harm.
If possible, take your time. (There's a saying in German: "In der Ruhe liegt die Kraft." ≈ "There is power in calmness.")
Work smart, make effort.
Learn, improve.
Repeat.

I think this approach is more helpful than only being focused on perfection. And it's a how-goal, not a where-goal. How-goals are often more useful.

PS:
I just looked up Kaizen again:

wikiwand.com/en/Kaizen:

The 5S are primarily aimed at the workshop workplaces, whereby the workplace is understood as the place where the value-adding processes in the company take place.

Seiri
Create order: remove everything that is not necessary from your workspace!
Seiton
Love of order: organize things and keep them in their proper place!
Seiso
Cleanliness: keep your workplace clean!
Seiketsu
Personal sense of order: make 5S a habit by setting standards!
Shitsuke
Discipline: make cleanliness and order your personal concern!

Yes, I should definitly improve the order in my apartment! Would be a smart and tough move!

[DDTSGM]

I think we sometimes miss the point that we don't gain righteousness by following the law/rules, rather we gain righteousness through faith.

Romans 1:16-17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[a] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Romans 9:30-33

Israel’s Unbelief

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal.
32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone.
33 As it is written:
“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

Romans 11:25-27

All Israel Will Be Saved

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,
26 and in this way[a] all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is[b] my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.

[MVS]

IMHO Jesus and God do not expect total selflessness from us.

Evidence:
1) Jesus said, love your neighbour as yourself.
2) Matthew 19:
17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Means to me: Jesus-like agape is perfection. But Jesus does not expect perfection from us. Paul wrote (Epheser 2:8) and Martin Luther taught (sola gratia), God's grace is amazing. Keeping the 10 commandments is important and good.

Only through perfection can we gain eternal life in God's presence. That requirement has not changed. However, that is not possible for we sinful humans. That is where Christ's sacrifice comes in. It is only through Gods ultimate Grace that we have been ransomed by the blood and can stand before God at judgement righteous.

[Shawn Dodson]

Moderator here (laughing)... let's keep this thread for Bible stuff.

[Stephanie B]

Is there one that says "The Key to Happiness and to Godliness is Minding Your Own Fucking Business"?

If not, there should be.

[Duelist]

Is there one that says "The Key to Happiness and to Godliness is Minding Your Own Fucking Business"?

If not, there should be.

Sure, Matthew 7:1-5:

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

I’ve always taken that to mean MYOB. You don’t know what’s in someone else’s heart, but you should be tending to your own weaknesses and trials and helping others as you can, rather than judging others for having weaknesses and trials and pointing them out.

[P30]

Michael Jackson's song "Man in the mirror" can be associated with the above verses from Matthew 7. He said:

„’Man In The Mirror’ is a great message. I love that song. If John Lennon was alive, he could really relate to that song because it says that if you want to make the world a better place, you have to work on yourself and change first….start with the man in the mirror. Start with yourself. Don’t be looking at all the other things. Start with you. That’s the truth. That’s what Martin Luther King meant and Gandhi too. That’s what I believe.“

"Michael donated the proceeds from the single to Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times to help children suffering from cancer." (michaeljackson.com)