Luke 6:37-38 says:
“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
We've been taught in religion that this means that we must do good for others, give them generously all that we have, and after we do that, we shall reap the same rewards that we have measured out to others. We have been taught that the first thing we do is toward others, and that then because of that, whatever happens to us will likewise be good (or bad, depending). Ironically, the Christians look down upon the Buddhists while preaching the same thing: karma.
I would like to look at this a different way.
"Instead of judging others, write your own Covenant with Me. Together We shall determine what is the expression of Our Love that is your Life. Looking to another's Covenant to determine your own Life will lead to false condemnation of who you are, likewise imposing your Covenant upon another's Life will lead to false condemnation of who they are. Instead, Love yourself completely. Enjoy and trust in your own Covenant and then you will be able to Love others in their own unique Covenanted expressions. This Love--both for self and for others--will be unconditional and without limit!"
It actually starts with your own life and self-love. Then it flows out to others. This unconditional Love has rarely been seen in a world where everyone is trying to conform to a Covenant that isn't theirs (religion) and then trying to force others to do likewise. Yahshua spoke of this in Matthew 23:15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." This cycle has been repeating for time immemorial, and everybody in this cycle is miserable.
The idea that we have to impose a belief system or expression upon other people before we can Love them is not what Yahshua meant by the Great Commission. The idea that we have to Love others in order to convince them to change their beliefs to match ours is not what Yahshua meant by the Great Commission. He said to "baptize them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." He said nothing about a belief system.
He wanted us to remind others that they can have their own personal, individual relationships with Him in which they write their own Covenants and then take our hands off. We do not guide their writing of the Covenant other than through loving them unconditionally. Yes, we can remind and cast visions, but that's all. Forcing someone onto a certain path is not our jobs. Making someone see things the way we do is not our jobs. In relating to others, we might be able to say "Hey, have you considered_____?" and then support them in whatever decision they make (and even that's only to be done with the greatest respect and honor for the other person's autonomy), and we Love unconditionally.
If we Love based on a common belief system, a common religion, a common creed, a common grouping, or any other similarities, we are expressing conditional love. At some point, those we Love will fail to meet our conditions and that's okay because we are not the authors of their Covenant. But what we are, what we will always be, is an expression of the Love of Yahweh in the Earth. And His Love does not change because someone does or does not pray a sinner's prayer, does or does not conform to certain ideologies, does or does not attend a certain church or denomination, does or does not meet certain standards.
"But what about Yahweh's law!? But what about righteousness!?"
Judge not... His Law is not one size fits all. Righteousness is determined by the Covenant He makes with each individual person. There are as many expressions of righteousness as there are people in the world. And if we were all free to determine our own lives with Him instead of trying to fit ourselves into boxes We never established, maybe there wouldn't be so many expressions of lack. Murder, hatred, violence, and anger come from the boxes, not from the people's hearts. They come from people trying and failing to conform to standards of righteousness imposed externally and then trying to force others to do likewise. They come from, alternatively, giving upon on conformity and then setting up an alternative standards that is just as much a box as conformity. Then the conformists and the non-conformists can duke it out over who is right, righteous, and more tolerant. Exhibits A-Z: practically everything on social media and the news cycle.
For time immemorial people have been grouping themselves into categories based on commonalities. Within these groups, people show Love and support to each other, but I have yet to see a single categorized group that shows unconditional Love and support to someone outside of their chosen grouping. Empathy is so key, here. You can support and love someone who doesn't look, think, act, or believe like you! Oh, some groups are willing to talk about Oneness, but only with the expectation that Oneness means "everyone changes to become like me and part of my group." I live in hope of a world where all the categories and boxes are removed and we can truly be One without condition on our love and support for one another. One day, we will realize that the body of Christ is larger than we'd imagined and we are all part of this great big group called "humanity."
“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
We've been taught in religion that this means that we must do good for others, give them generously all that we have, and after we do that, we shall reap the same rewards that we have measured out to others. We have been taught that the first thing we do is toward others, and that then because of that, whatever happens to us will likewise be good (or bad, depending). Ironically, the Christians look down upon the Buddhists while preaching the same thing: karma.
I would like to look at this a different way.
"Instead of judging others, write your own Covenant with Me. Together We shall determine what is the expression of Our Love that is your Life. Looking to another's Covenant to determine your own Life will lead to false condemnation of who you are, likewise imposing your Covenant upon another's Life will lead to false condemnation of who they are. Instead, Love yourself completely. Enjoy and trust in your own Covenant and then you will be able to Love others in their own unique Covenanted expressions. This Love--both for self and for others--will be unconditional and without limit!"
It actually starts with your own life and self-love. Then it flows out to others. This unconditional Love has rarely been seen in a world where everyone is trying to conform to a Covenant that isn't theirs (religion) and then trying to force others to do likewise. Yahshua spoke of this in Matthew 23:15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." This cycle has been repeating for time immemorial, and everybody in this cycle is miserable.
The idea that we have to impose a belief system or expression upon other people before we can Love them is not what Yahshua meant by the Great Commission. The idea that we have to Love others in order to convince them to change their beliefs to match ours is not what Yahshua meant by the Great Commission. He said to "baptize them in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." He said nothing about a belief system.
He wanted us to remind others that they can have their own personal, individual relationships with Him in which they write their own Covenants and then take our hands off. We do not guide their writing of the Covenant other than through loving them unconditionally. Yes, we can remind and cast visions, but that's all. Forcing someone onto a certain path is not our jobs. Making someone see things the way we do is not our jobs. In relating to others, we might be able to say "Hey, have you considered_____?" and then support them in whatever decision they make (and even that's only to be done with the greatest respect and honor for the other person's autonomy), and we Love unconditionally.
If we Love based on a common belief system, a common religion, a common creed, a common grouping, or any other similarities, we are expressing conditional love. At some point, those we Love will fail to meet our conditions and that's okay because we are not the authors of their Covenant. But what we are, what we will always be, is an expression of the Love of Yahweh in the Earth. And His Love does not change because someone does or does not pray a sinner's prayer, does or does not conform to certain ideologies, does or does not attend a certain church or denomination, does or does not meet certain standards.
"But what about Yahweh's law!? But what about righteousness!?"
Judge not... His Law is not one size fits all. Righteousness is determined by the Covenant He makes with each individual person. There are as many expressions of righteousness as there are people in the world. And if we were all free to determine our own lives with Him instead of trying to fit ourselves into boxes We never established, maybe there wouldn't be so many expressions of lack. Murder, hatred, violence, and anger come from the boxes, not from the people's hearts. They come from people trying and failing to conform to standards of righteousness imposed externally and then trying to force others to do likewise. They come from, alternatively, giving upon on conformity and then setting up an alternative standards that is just as much a box as conformity. Then the conformists and the non-conformists can duke it out over who is right, righteous, and more tolerant. Exhibits A-Z: practically everything on social media and the news cycle.
For time immemorial people have been grouping themselves into categories based on commonalities. Within these groups, people show Love and support to each other, but I have yet to see a single categorized group that shows unconditional Love and support to someone outside of their chosen grouping. Empathy is so key, here. You can support and love someone who doesn't look, think, act, or believe like you! Oh, some groups are willing to talk about Oneness, but only with the expectation that Oneness means "everyone changes to become like me and part of my group." I live in hope of a world where all the categories and boxes are removed and we can truly be One without condition on our love and support for one another. One day, we will realize that the body of Christ is larger than we'd imagined and we are all part of this great big group called "humanity."
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