Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote...
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Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote that "Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we must be saved by love."
It is the loving heart of Christ demonstrated on the cross that is the truest test of love. Paul synchronizes it well when he wrote to the Church of Corinth, "(Love) always, protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (1 Corinthians 13:7 NIV). When we understand love in those terms we can take off our masks and reveal our true identity. "Only in such an atmosphere of love and acceptance can real trust, intimacy, and openness flourish and grow" (Wynne Gillis). I want to live in that high atmosphere of love!
(Jan Karon, Patches of Godlight [New York: Penguin Press, 2001])
It is the loving heart of Christ demonstrated on the cross that is the truest test of love. Paul synchronizes it well when he wrote to the Church of Corinth, "(Love) always, protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (1 Corinthians 13:7 NIV). When we understand love in those terms we can take off our masks and reveal our true identity. "Only in such an atmosphere of love and acceptance can real trust, intimacy, and openness flourish and grow" (Wynne Gillis). I want to live in that high atmosphere of love!
(Jan Karon, Patches of Godlight [New York: Penguin Press, 2001])
