Can I love someone and accept them, even if I don’t like how they believe and act? Good question for today. Once, when I was preparing for the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) the priest made this comment, “God loves the sinner and hates the sin.” I take that to mean the God accepts me as I am as a person, yet doesn’t accept the sin I do as ok. When the woman was caught in adultery, Jesus accepted her, yet told her not to sin anymore. He rejected her sinful behavior.
We live in a world that is continually changing from the way it was when I was young.
Some behaviors are commonly done that were not around much, when I was growing up. Examples are some people openly being atheistic, the number of people divorcing or living together without marriage, not going to church, and the numbers of people seeking abortions. I don’t remember the hatred of people based on their political affiliations. Maybe, I just lived a sheltered life? Racism, white supremacy, woke, transgender issues, and homosexuality, and social status just were not issues. I remember being more concerned about religious affiliations like the differences between various Christian denominations, getting our chores done, and doing well in school.
Peer pressure seems to be the order of the day. We base our acceptance and rejection of others on how they behave, rather than on being God’s children. “If you don’t think and act the way I want you to, then I won’t like you.” It is a kind of bullying. Isn’t it possible that we can be at least friendly with people who behave differently than us? Isn’t it possible that we can be friends with those who think differently? Can we not arise above our differences, to genuinely accept and love the person, without necessarily accepting their beliefs?
There are a lot of things about people that I have difficulty condoning, but I do my best to love and accept the person. Personhood comes first and is paramount in my loving others. What about you? Can you separate the person from their behavior? Can you separate the sinner from the sin? Can we love the person, even if they are not like us? Can we love those we perceive to be different? Jesus said that we should do even more than that. He said that we ought to love our enemies. How can we do that if we can’t even be friends with those who are just merely different?
“May the Lord bless and keep you. May he let his face shine upon you, be gracious to you and give you his peace.”