We all do things we didn't ought to do, and have to suffer the consequences. Some things we suffer because of other peoples' sins, and some because of our own. If a person, as a result of a misdemeanour, contracts a sexual disease, do you really think the doctor should refuse to help him? And, if he can't afford to pay, should he send him away? How many people misbehave sexually, and get away with it? - and yet, he who gets 'the bug' may have 'misbehaved' less often! We in the UK have been blessed with a welfare system which everyone is so thankful for. Because we know that, whatever happens to us, there is provided a 'safety net' to help us at such times. When we're taken ill and rushed to hospital, nobody checks first to see if we have insurance (and dumps us on the street if we haven't). It's a great comfort and reliever of stress to know that caring system is there, should we need it. And sometimes, for all our efforts to be self-supporting, some of us unfortunately do need just such help, whether social or medical. It is very difficult to sort out, among all that, who is truly worthy and who isn't - and, indeed, many people fall into conditions of acute need in spite of their best efforts - but, the fact is that the suffering is real in whichever case. If a person falls into a case of need, which do you do? Do you examine him to see if it was his fault, before you offer help, or do you offer help first and - maybe thereafter, try and lend a sympathetic ear as to how he got there? Surely, help comes first, before judgment? Well, all I can say is, I'm so thankful we in the UK have the system we have and not the one in the US, because we have tremendous security and comfort from it. In fact, I would certainly say that it's based on Christian principles. The one in the US seems to be based on the Law of Moses. That said, I am not sure about Obama's new welfare system, because I have heard that there are a few legitimate reasons not to support it, so cannot comment. It's not my country, so I can't comment knowledgeably on the programme itself. I understand that people must be encouraged to have a 'backbone' and take individual responsibility for themselves but - hey - that can take years of training, even in the best families. And, if a person is brought up not, in essence, knowing right from wrong, then he is disadvantaged and he's going to behave badly, and maybe we (who consider we know better) should try to loving restore him. I hear that America's a country of, not just very rich people, but also some extremely poor - a country of extremes, more so than in the UK, I reckon. If so, then that represents an extreme of suffering. Whether one suffers for doing right or for doing wrong, surely it calls for compassion, and soccour of some kind? Christ, having made himself poor (and afflicted) for us, so that we might become rich in his salvation, surely teaches us that - now we are in a better case than we were - we should know now that we have no right to judge or condemn sinners. What about the prodigal son? Did the father carry out an inquest on his sins when he returned home limping and in rags? I know we're talking about repentance here, in the son's case, but I ask you, what was in the father's heart? And, what was in the heart of the other son? How easily it is becoming, in this society, to sink into sin and conditions of great need, when temptations and deceptions abound to impoverish us and lead us into the 'deep waters'! Where should so many of us Christians be, if Christ had not 'stooped down' to lift us out? 'Those that have been forgiven much, love much'.
2016-05-23 16:21:25
·
answer #2
·
answered by Jo-ann 4
·
0⤊
0⤋