"Harsh Words"

    There are  passages in The Holy Bible that are quite harsh or even hard to deal with. To begin with let me mention Holy Communion being the Body and Blood of Jesus. Even in his day when people heard this they
thought that such an idea was disgusting. But when you look at Jesus being The Bread of Life and The Living Water then it isn't so bad.
     St. Paul also said some things that to this day stir people up. The most famous of these was when he said wives be submissive to your husbands. Again let me suggest a more modern take. Because when you add the very next verse which says Husbands love your wives as Christ loves the church. So in other words live for each other. Be willing to make sacrifices for each other and the health of your marriage. Jesus gave his life for all who believe in him. In a sense we give up our former lives for each other. We should be faithful to each other as Jesus was faithful to the will of his father in Heaven.
    So far as The Bible is concerned every book from Genesis to Revelation is full of challenging instructions and images. Does that mean that we should allow such verses to shake faith?
     I don't know about other Holy text but I'm certain they may include sayings that people may question. In fact some sacred scripture may scare some people away.
      But what are you looking for? Are you looking for God or religion? Are you looking for rules and regulations or a life in The Spirit? We are to be transformed into The Image of God. We are all called to the Kingdom of God.
     Life is hard. The world is full of harsh words. Surely they don't all come from Holy books. In fact most don't. They come from people who have endless backgrounds, past experiences, cultures, traditions,and so on. But God encompasses all humanity.
      For in The Spirit is life. It's from the heart that the mouth speaks. The Lord is the great physician. Allow God to heal the words that have so damaged you and watch what you say. Because words can hurt. But words can heal.