(February 12, 2010 at 6:00 pm)Scott Anonymous Wrote: Are you trying to tell me the Bible doesn't say God is demanding we love him?Of course, you have a choice. God doesn't coerce, bully or force people to love Him. That wouldn't be loving of Him, and real love has to be out of choice (or it is just being God's slave). But with all choices there is consequence: just like choosing not to love your family damages the relationship between them and you, not loving God breaks that relationship, and broken relationships cause both sides to suffer.
Whether I love him or not is entirely up to me? Well knowing this dude I'm meant to be loving is going to send me to hell if I don't.. I'd be utterly doomed because I cannot chose to love him and loving such an entity seems somewhat difficult and well.. catastrophic. If nothing stood in the way of this being the truth, I'd wish God never created me with the ability to think like this because I don't want to rot in hell with a talking snake..
Another point is.. Why did God give me the ability to think this way when he knew it would be the reason I can never love him?
Gee.. thanks God.. I think i'd rather put up with Lucifer.. You obviously don't love me.
I don't believe in hell, but I do believe that some of our suffering (our lostness, our anger, our pain) is due to that broken relationship. But everyone suffers because we don't love God with all our heart, mind and strength the way we should, whether we believe in Him or not.
And God gave you a questioning mind so that you could love Him with all of your mind: questions can only lead to truth.
