Thanks Ms Campbell
Missy

Thank you for hosting me and for your review of Love Found Me.

Vanessa

Being thankful is also more then reciting words. It’s a lifestyle choice that must be practiced everyday.

Gratitude so simple we oftentimes miss it while looking for a more complicated answer in our lives. We should be saying “thank you” for all the simplistic things we generally take for granted. Thus, I will always be the one to say that it’s a risk to be grateful lest we disrupt the comfort of sin that we allow to permeate our souls instead of getting it right. Yes, it was easy for me to ask “what are you thankful for”, knowing that it would have caused you to stop and REALLY think about what you SHOULD be doing. So for those of you reading this passage, stop where you are and ask the question and act upon it!

ACR

it’s often said that there’s no varying degrees of sin…sin is sin. With that said, the longer we go on an is allowed to have the chance to make our election and calling surest, mankind will stretch the limits of truth to his own benefit to justify sinning more. The matrimonial lines of faithfulness and integral honor in relationships blurs as long as two parities are not prone to the Agape way of worshipping (each other). What baggage do I think would cause one to end a relationship? When threre’s no basis for integrity and the trust goes awry, then it’s time to reassess priorities…but it’s muc harder and a lot is a stake when you talk about ending a relationship through divorce. Biblically speaking, there’s ground rules and God specifically stated when you can and when you cannot. “‘Til death do you part’” is revelent and should be honored applicably. On the other hand, what transpired in a person’s past is important and definitely should be addressed. Carrying baggage into a new relationship can only be problematic if nothing is done to resolve that which would be discussed to eradicate subsequent issues.

If you feel otherwise to my posit here, just think about how God would look at it. Do you think that He’ll allow you to enter the gates of New Jerusalem relative to the ‘little’ sins you’ve committed that shouldn’t be as bad as, and opposed to the ones that are more profound? I think that most of us theologically would say that sin is sin. But, what does that mean and how does it apply? Does that mean that telling a lie is like committing a murder? Or is gossiping with friends the same as living a homosexual lifestyle? How about committing plagiarism in a paragraph of your master’s thesis? Is that as bad on the sin scale as cheating on your husband or wife? One must also take in consideration that along with sin not being relegated to one no worse than the other, there will be even degrees of punishment! I say this because many are under the misconception that all sins are treated with the same degree of punishment. And it says so in the Bible. The Bible clearly mentions different levels of rewards for those that enter heaven based on their good works here on earth. In parallel, the Bible also speaks of different levels of punishment in eternity for the wicked. That said, it stands to reason that God does indeed ascribe different levels of displeasure for various sins and therefore we face the consequences of those varying sin choices.

Moreover, no varying degrees of sin is easy to misinterpret…and I will further allude to this by giving you one more analogy to see where I’m coming from — take a glass of water, for instance. Now, that glass of water is in its purest form, no additives and no other mixtures. If you put add something to that water then it cease ceases to be ‘pure’. The same thing can be said about sin. When you go against what God says you can’t and shouldn’t do, you you sin, and it doesn’t matter how great or small the transgression is it’s still an unclean element that has no place in the order of righteousness. In other words, if you go out and murder someone in God’s eyes it’s murder pure and simple, but mankind has given degrees of impropriety to the act, i.e, 1st degree, 2nd degree, and involuntary manslaughter, etc. The problem we have in this world is the fact that we readily justify sin by placing hierarchies and elements of easement to lessen the impact on the sin itself.

For me it would be issues relating to honesty and integrity. I can handle most life issues through prayer, planning and preparation, but I cannot tolerate dishonesty. A man has to be real, face the truth and allow us to deal with problems/struggles as a couple with the help of the Lord.

When looking for a mate, how much weight should be placed on an individual’s past?

I want to know about a man’s past because past behavior can be an indication of future behavior. However, if his life displays true evidence of growth, change and maturity then that’s important and I see that as a reason to give someone my love and support.

“the past should only hinder a relationship if it is affecting the present”

I totally agree.

But to answer your two questions there is no one thing that would cause me to end a relationship or specific baggage that would cause me to end a relationship since I recognize that we all have baggage but on the other hand if the person is not progressively giving up the baggage or “laying aside every weight that doth so easily beset us” that might cause me to end a relationship. I hope I don’t sound contradictory but I beleive that every relationship should be governed by grace which means I give you room to be who you are and to recognize what you need to let go of. My second answer is the past should only hinder a relationship if it is affecting the present, your history doesn’t have to be your reality or your yesterday doesn’t have to be your now.