Truth With Love

For millennea the heart has been used to show love, as shown in the above Google search. But, it isn't an accurate picture, as shown below with both real and graphic "heart":

To understand love it is necessary in order to follow this verse and grow in understanding Christianity:

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: (Ephesians 4:14-15)

Speaking the truth, even with love and in love, in today's world will offend a great number of people. For a person to state the name of an individual (who was born over two decades ago, had the "Sex" or "Gender" entered on a birth certificate as "Male," who now believes by changes in his mind he is now a "Woman," with the pronouns "She/Her" or "They/Them") is determined as "deadnaming" and will get that person removed from social media along with labeled "transphobic."

Yet each word in that paragraph is factual. No lies - I promise. No attempt to convince anyone, even those who accept changed genders will tell you it is factual - but they will also tell you that deadnaming does indicate a transphobe. As much as this current culture is rewriting history, it is also rewriting dictionaries. Instead of hatred, -phobia means:

The form -phobia comes from Greek phóbos, meaning “fear” or “panic.” The Latin translation is timor, “fear,” which is the source of words such as timid and timorous.

Medically, -phobia is used:

A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder. It is a strong, irrational fear of something that poses little or no real danger

Let me assure you, there is no panic in my life, no physical fear. But, there is great concern that a large portion of my country wishes to deny religious freedom to those of us who not only believe there is a living God who created our universe, but that the Bible is God's inspired word for mankind. To teach our children that we are wrong does not instill fear, but it does cause us to require our man-given rights to continue to support those our founders determined as God-given rights and included such in our founding documents.

Thus we speak truth in love. everything I've written above is true. I also believe the following verses were spoken by our deity and continues to apply today:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18 KJV)

Because I do love my fellow man, I share truth. I condemn no one, nor do I judge anyone by my own standards. However, I can discern what God has inspired. From a positive viewpoint, God created male and female, and defined marriage. People in the Old Testament did not utilize the definition, but Jesus mentions it:

But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. (Mark 10:6-9 KJV)

Of course I'm an oddity - my husband and I celebrated sixty years of marriage last year, and I can name a large number of other people who never divorced and were only parted by death. We are not as few as people would like to believe. Why? We believe this is pleasing to God. There are many verses in the Bible that tell us what is pleasing to God. 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 and 1 Timothy 1:8–11 have lists of those whose beliefs "will not inherit the kingdom of God." Not my writings, but are my beliefs.

I cannot pick and choose which portions of the Bible to believe. As Paul, what I write all the counsel of God. To do otherwise would be to lie. Thus, with Paul, I can say:

For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. (Acts 20:27 KJV)

Oh, part of the full counsel of God is those lists in the above scriptures, which have but to do with one thing about becoming a part of the eternal kingdom of God - believe what Jesus said: whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Those who believe will be a part of God's Kingdom. The lists contain definitions of those who will not be in the Kingdom, because:

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

I certainly cannot depend upon works, for I really have sinned and come short - but: I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12b)

Do you know what day I mean? It is part of why I speak truth with love for all who stop here.