God's Greatest Gift...

It is often said that God's greatest gift to us is his Son, whom he sent to deliver us from sin. But what if you aren't in the vast majority that believes the notion of original sin, or sin in general for that matter? If you don't believe in the notion of sin, then you are left with love. It is love, that I believe is God's greatest gift, but first I should explain why I am in the minority of dismissing the concept of sin. Before I start, I should make it clear that I don't begrudge or believe myself better than anyone that believes in the notion of sin...it's just not a concept that I embrace within my relationship with God.

Original sin. While we are all born human, and therefore destined to free-will flaws such as greed or lust, I can't accept that merely being born with free-will, and the inevitability of being imperfect, renders us doomed to hell from the start. My God would not bring an infant into this world, and with an unfortunate early death, deem that original sin prevents that precious child from rejoining Him.

Now in my branch of Christianity, Baptist, it is said that a child is exempt from damnation until the day they are capable of realizing they are sinners. This goes back to the concept of original sin, that somehow a child has lived 5, 6, 7+ years...the only way a child knows how...only to find out that he or she has been a sinner their entire life. Is this some massive guilt trip that God would lay on a child's shoulders? Haha, you've lived your life happy-go-lucky, or so you thought, but you are actually a sinner and need to repent your happy-go-lucky years. That doesn't make sense to me.

And how can God who supposedly loves us dearly, which I know he does, bring us into this world and become so angry with us that if for a flash in time, which is our life compared to eternity, we don't acknowledge him that we are doomed? That too, perplexes me.

Does He not make us in His image? Would you make a decision to bring a child into this world and if he or she doesn't do exactly as you say, you would harm that child? Of course not.

And THAT is where God's greatest gift lies. Unconditional Love. God's love is unconditional. He wants us to live the best life possible...to treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves. If we stray, His love doesn't wain. If we falter, He may be disappointed, but His love remains...just as the love we have for our children.

His gifts are infinite, but so is His love for us. And that's His greatest gift to us...to allow us to love someone, our child, just as much as He loves us, His children.