God's Mercy, Justice and Punishment

[PelagiathePenit]

Does God punish us or do we simply fall victim to our own sins/inclinations? I understand how actions, words and deeds are transgressions. What about thoughts? Not of us is pure. Most people think of themselves as a good person. The only real people are criminals. We all have our sinful tendencies we justify. Sadly, I have a good friend who is atheist (THIS IS NOT THE SAD PART), she has encountered SO MANY Christians who care so much about God, going to church, but when it comes down to treating other people with kindness THEY STRONGLY LACK IT. Not all believers behave this way. What does God do with this? Sometimes it difficult to people anyone will ever receive punishment from God or that being a saint is possible. A lot of people call themselves Christians, but are very vain, live in their own little worlds, could care less about what does not happen to them, but apparently they love Jesus and respect God a lot, some people have a better admission into heaven than Atheists.
I thought about, everyone is a messed up person. Some of us worse than others. Are we all blind to our own faults or simply choose to be dishonest with ourselves? What is the punishment for persisting in our errors?

 

[pianistclare]

As I follow most of your posts ( you have several threads going )
I begin to wonder why you seem to be surrounded by so much negativity?
You view of God is that of an angry Father…who can’t wait to spank his unruly children.
True, many people claim to be Christian and exhibit few of those qualities.
However, our task, your task, is to be the BEST Christian, the BEST Catholic you can be at whatever pace you can do it. We all need to study, to pray, to receive Eucharist when in a state of grace, and to make the world a better place. It does no good to wonder and peer into other people’s souls, unless we are actively praying for them and their conversion.
Life is a continual process of conversion and turning to the Lord.
A little bit of joy (and we can find oodles of it in salvation history, along with the sadness) makes this life bearable. God doesn’t block the path to happiness. Indeed, He offers us His Word (the Bible) His Church (the Magisterium, Sacred Tradition) our salvation history
(the Deposit of Faith, the lives of the martyrs, the saints, and pious people) to inspire us, to lift us, to teach us, and to nurture us.
God is not a timekeeper who winds us up and then sets us free to walk over the edge of a cliff and He simply stands back and watches! This is very simplistic view.
God is more complex. And like anything worth knowing, it takes work and personal effort on our part to learn about Him. He wants this. He wants a relationship with us. This is why we were created. To be part of His life. So that He could share His goodness with us.
He is our Father, but a loving, kind, gentle one. Not a doormat. Not a meanie. Not a trickster.
God is love. Focus on the love. Think about it. He came as a helpless infant. Would an unjust God who didn’t care and only created bad people do this? No. He came to show us the ultimate in humility. The ultimate in personal sacrifice on the cross. The ultimate love that we can possess.
Focus on the love.
Peace.

 

[PelagiathePenit]

As I follow most of your posts ( you have several threads going )
I begin to wonder why you seem to be surrounded by so much negativity?
You view of God is that of an angry Father…who can’t wait to spank his unruly children.
True, many people claim to be Christian and exhibit few of those qualities.
However, our task, your task, is to be the BEST Christian, the BEST Catholic you can be at whatever pace you can do it. We all need to study, to pray, to receive Eucharist when in a state of grace, and to make the world a better place. It does no good to wonder and peer into other people’s souls, unless we are actively praying for them and their conversion.
Life is a continual process of conversion and turning to the Lord.
A little bit of joy (and we can find oodles of it in salvation history, along with the sadness) makes this life bearable. God doesn’t block the path to happiness. Indeed, He offers us His Word (the Bible) His Church (the Magisterium, Sacred Tradition) our salvation history
(the Deposit of Faith, the lives of the martyrs, the saints, and pious people) to inspire us, to lift us, to teach us, and to nurture us.
God is not a timekeeper who winds us up and then sets us free to walk over the edge of a cliff and He simply stands back and watches! This is very simplistic view.
God is more complex. And like anything worth knowing, it takes work and personal effort on our part to learn about Him. He wants this. He wants a relationship with us. This is why we were created. To be part of His life. So that He could share His goodness with us.
He is our Father, but a loving, kind, gentle one. Not a doormat. Not a meanie. Not a trickster.
God is love. Focus on the love. Think about it. He came as a helpless infant. Would an unjust God who didn’t care and only created bad people do this? No. He came to show us the ultimate in humility. The ultimate in personal sacrifice on the cross. The ultimate love that we can possess.
Focus on the love.
Peace.

You need to take it step by step.

 

[pianistclare]

You need to take it step by step.

I have no idea what you are commenting on.

 

[fhansen]

Does God punish us or do we simply fall victim to our own sins/inclinations? I understand how actions, words and deeds are transgressions. What about thoughts? Not of us is pure. Most people think of themselves as a good person. The only real people are criminals. We all have our sinful tendencies we justify. Sadly, I have a good friend who is atheist (THIS IS NOT THE SAD PART), she has encountered SO MANY Christians who care so much about God, going to church, but when it comes down to treating other people with kindness THEY STRONGLY LACK IT. Not all believers behave this way. What does God do with this? Sometimes it difficult to people anyone will ever receive punishment from God or that being a saint is possible. A lot of people call themselves Christians, but are very vain, live in their own little worlds, could care less about what does not happen to them, but apparently they love Jesus and respect God a lot, some people have a better admission into heaven than Atheists.
I thought about, everyone is a messed up person. Some of us worse than others. Are we all blind to our own faults or simply choose to be dishonest with ourselves? What is the punishment for persisting in our errors?

But that’s the point: Christianity really acknowledges that there’s something wrong with humanity, or at least something missing; that’s what the doctrine of Original Sin is all about. The denial of this basic “wrongness” means that nothing can ever be done about it-and so no true change occurs. And some Christians take this teaching more seriously, while others less so.

 

[StrawberryJam]

Does God punish us or do we simply fall victim to our own sins/inclinations? I understand how actions, words and deeds are transgressions. What about thoughts? Not of us is pure. Most people think of themselves as a good person. The only real people are criminals. We all have our sinful tendencies we justify. Sadly, I have a good friend who is atheist (THIS IS NOT THE SAD PART), she has encountered SO MANY Christians who care so much about God, going to church, but when it comes down to treating other people with kindness THEY STRONGLY LACK IT. Not all believers behave this way. What does God do with this? Sometimes it difficult to people anyone will ever receive punishment from God or that being a saint is possible. A lot of people call themselves Christians, but are very vain, live in their own little worlds, could care less about what does not happen to them, but apparently they love Jesus and respect God a lot, some people have a better admission into heaven than Atheists.
I thought about, everyone is a messed up person. Some of us worse than others. Are we all blind to our own faults or simply choose to be dishonest with ourselves? What is the punishment for persisting in our errors?

Don’t worry so much about all this. I am not attempting to speak for Atheists when I wonder why you worry about their admission into heaven.

Have you ever wondered if heaven may sound like being in North Korea for some who are Atheist?

I would suggest you argue against what is not supportable by fact. Every reasonable person will accept that many who call themselves any title will not hold up to their end of the bargain in holding such title.

Let’s leave it at that to be civil.

 

[PelagiathePenit]

Don’t worry so much about all this. I am not attempting to speak for Atheists when I wonder why you worry about their admission into heaven.

Have you ever wondered if heaven may sound like being in North Korea for some who are Atheist?

I would suggest you argue against what is not supportable by fact. Every reasonable person will accept that many who call themselves any title will not hold up to their end of the bargain in holding such title.

Let’s leave it at that to be civil.

I do not worry about their admission. I know some people simply believe that they are better than Atheists.

 

[PelagiathePenit]

Don’t worry so much about all this. I am not attempting to speak for Atheists when I wonder why you worry about their admission into heaven.

Have you ever wondered if heaven may sound like being in North Korea for some who are Atheist?

I would suggest you argue against what is not supportable by fact. Every reasonable person will accept that many who call themselves any title will not hold up to their end of the bargain in holding such title.

Let’s leave it at that to be civil.

Oops. I left out some more in my first post. I meant that some people since they are Christians they are guaranteed into Heaven, regardless of how they treat others. They assume Atheists face condemnation not themselves.

 

[StrawberryJam]

Oops. I left out some more in my first post. I meant that some people since they are Christians they are guaranteed into Heaven, regardless of how they treat others. They assume Atheists face condemnation not themselves.

Doesn’t sound Catholic to me my friend. Catholics never claim a spot in heaven. They are the most humble of all to say, hey- you may have to think about this one a bit…