I don’t often see people talking about being forced to accept others’ lifestyles or choices, but if I did, this is what I think I might say…
We each get one life to live, whether it be many years or few. What each person chooses to do with their life is their choice, and it is their path to walk on. Our chosen paths impact others, and some will choose to walk along that path with you while others won’t, so therefore our choices define our friends.
We each have a choice to choose who we love… the humans we love, as well as whether or not we choose to love God. God loved us enough to send Jesus to earth to pay for our sins and to give us a way to be with him forever. God loves us, but we get to choose whether to love him. We humans who love God will obey his commands, including his command to love others. We choose whether or not to follow God’s command to love others, and others choose whether they want to love us back. Jesus didn’t tell us to be everyone’s friend, in fact, a believer isn’t supposed to be in relationship with an unbeliever. Believers are only called to love others as we love ourselves, even the ones who hate us or disagree with us.
Humans were created to get to choose their own path, that’s the free will part, AND every choice has repercussions. We choose to love others regardless of what they do or how they feel about us, and they choose how they will respond. It’s hard to watch someone we love make choices that we know are bad for them, especially when the consequences of their actions are taking them down a path which will forever separate them from the God who loves them, but even he loves them enough to give them their heart’s desire, which may very well be a life of sin and disobedience.
If God can love them enough to let people walk in disobedience, then so should we. Every choice has a consequence, and we can only be responsible for ours.
Love, don’t judge… AND… know that your choices have eternal consequences.
(Originally posted on Facebook, April 15, 2025, by Stephanie K Ford)