If you were to ask me the question, “The burden of responsibility – is it ours, or God’s?” (Jan 22/10) I would’ve said “Ours, of course!” because that’s the Christianity I was taught – that the burden of loving God and loving neighbour is on our shoulders. It’s up to me now to obey God [...]
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Tying in with “Obedience, yes – but whose?” (Jan 18/10), I saw a church billboard today with the words, “Responsibility. Jesus help us.” I don’t know how that hits you, but it struck me a nasty blow. First, its stark, one word emphasis on “Responsibility” (with a capital ‘R’) and then the slap, that we’re [...]
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In “Work out your own salvation. Who me?” (Jan 14/10), I thought the answer to “Who, me?” was “Yes, you!” – because I firmly believed it was up to me to make my salvation work. And how was I supposed to make it work? By following Jesus’ example, of obeying all God’s requirements and expectations, [...]
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Following up on “Trying to live up to expectations – it’s a killer!” (Jan 9/10), why is it that Christians like me are so tough on ourselves, to the point of physical and mental injury? Because in my case I thought salvation depended on me. I understood that Jesus died to forgive all my PAST [...]
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I had to ask myself “Have I understood Christianity correctly?” (Jan 05/10) because the stress of it was killing me. So what was causing all this stress? Simple: trying to live up to everyone’s expectations, that’s what. Like living up to God’s expectations, for a start, all those laws and rules of behaviour that are [...]
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Following up on “I’m a mess. What do I do?” (Dec 30/09) I began to wonder after all my years in Christianity if I’d understood it correctly, because the stress of it was killing me. Was there something I’d missed, then? I thought I’d “done my part” fairly well, though. I’d “done what Christians do.” [...]
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