{"id":27396,"date":"2026-07-30T09:47:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27396"},"modified":"2026-07-30T09:51:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T13:51:13","slug":"reading-the-bible-through-the-lens-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=27396","title":{"rendered":"Reading the Bible Through the Lens of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/P5AkNqLuVgY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Reading for Justice, Mercy, and Love<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p>Thursday, July 30, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Indigenous theologian Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley considers Jesus\u2019s criticism of certain religious leaders in his day and how they interpreted Scripture:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all can have our various ideas about what Creator wants from us. But <strong>when we claim to have God\u2019s only true intentions for all humanity through any holy book, and especially when we reject and exclude others because they don\u2019t agree with us, we are much like those of that particular cadre of Pharisees Jesus condemned. By our exclusiveness, we miss the very point of most sacred writings.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider Jesus\u2019s words to a certain group of Pharisees recorded in Matthew 23:23\u201324:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law\u2014justice, mercy, and faith. <strong>You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.<\/strong> Blind guides! You strain your water, so you won\u2019t accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I understand it, Jesus is not rejecting the scriptures themselves; rather, he is rejecting a certain interpretation and application of the scriptures that excluded all others. <strong>Anytime we use our sacred<\/strong> <strong>writings to justify acts of exclusion, rejection, and hegemony we are neglecting justice, mercy, and love.<\/strong> <strong>By doing so, we deploy our holy scriptures to do more harm than good, causing us to fall into the same hypocrisy that Jesus condemned\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I understand the dilemma well. Growing up evangelical, I was indoctrinated to accept every single word of the Bible as literal truth, no matter how troubling or contradictory it seemed\u2026. What strikes me as deeply ironic is that most Jewish communities\u2014the very people whose ancestors wrote much of these texts\u2014don\u2019t embrace this rigid fundamentalism that many Christians do. <strong>In Jewish tradition, questioning and wrestling with multiple interpretations through midrash isn\u2019t just permitted\u2014it\u2019s essential. <\/strong>They understand what many Christians miss, that <strong>sacred texts demand thoughtful engagement, not na\u00efve acceptance.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Woodley affirms the Bible\u2019s stories as powerful teaching tools:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By \u201cswallowing camels,\u201d we miss the beauty and poetry of the whole story in our holy books. <strong>We often seek the easy way out rather than allow the story to speak to us, to settle in us for a while, unleashing our imaginations. We commit ourselves to our baser, egocentric instincts rather than allowing love to break through the story\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stories remain one of our most powerful medicines, becoming the lifeblood of human connection. They heal our isolation, awaken our full humanity beyond cold facts, and weave us into communities that remember who we are and challenge us to become who we might be. They may come to us through novels, movies, plays, orality, or even holy Scripture. We love them because of the truths they teach. <strong>Best we allow our stories to teach us, inspire us, bond us, and entertain us, as they were meant to do.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Young<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let My Love seep into the inner recesses of your being. Do not close off any part of yourself from Me. I know you inside and out, so <strong>do not try to present a &#8220;cleaned-up&#8221; self to Me. Wounds that you shut <\/strong>away from the Light of My Love will fester and become wormy. Secret sins that you &#8220;hide&#8221; from Me can split off and develop lives of their own, controlling you without your realizing it.<br>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>Open yourself fully to My transforming Presence. Let My brilliant Love-Light search out and destroy hidden fears. <\/strong>This process requires time alone with Me, as My Love soaks into your innermost being. <strong>Enjoy My perfect Love, which expels every trace of fear.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RELATED SCRIPTURE:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Psalm 139:1-4 (NLT)<\/strong><br><strong>Psalm 139<\/strong><br><strong>For the choir director: A psalm of David.<\/strong><br><strong>1 O Lord, you have examined my heart<\/strong><br><strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; and know everything about me.<\/strong><br><strong>2 You know when I sit down or stand up.<\/strong><br><strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; You know my thoughts even when I\u2019m far away.<\/strong><br><strong>3 You see me when I travel<\/strong><br><strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; and when I rest at home.<\/strong><br><strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; You know everything I do.<\/strong><br><strong>4 You know what I am going to say<\/strong><br><strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; even before I say it, Lord.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional insight regarding Psalm 139:1-5: Sometimes we don&#8217;t let people get to know&nbsp;us completely because we are afraid they will discover something about us they won&#8217;t like. But God already knows everything about us, even the number of hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30), and still he accepts and loves us. God is with us through every situation, in every trial &#8211; protecting, loving, guiding. He knows and loves us completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)<\/strong><br><strong>23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;<\/strong><br><strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; test me and know my anxious thoughts.<\/strong><br><strong>24 Point out anything in me that offends you,<\/strong><br><strong>&nbsp; &nbsp; and lead me along the path of everlasting life.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional insight regarding Psalm 139:23-24: David asked God to search for sin and point it out, even to the level of testing his thoughts. This is exploratory&nbsp;surgery for sin. How are we to recognize sin unless God points it out? Then, when God shows us, we can repent and be forgiven. Make this verse your prayer. If you ask the Lord to search your heart and your thoughts to reveal your sin, you will be continuing on &#8220;the path of everlasting life.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1st John 4:18 (NLT)<\/strong><br><strong>18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additional insight regarding 1st John 4:18: If we ever are afraid of the future, eternity, or God&#8217;s&nbsp;judgement, we can remind ourselves of God&#8217;s love. We know that he loves us perfectly (Romans 8:38,39 &#8211; &#8220;<em>38&nbsp;<\/em>And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God\u2019s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow\u2014not even the powers of hell can separate us from God\u2019s love.&nbsp;<em>39<\/em>&nbsp;No power in the sky above or in the earth below\u2014indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.&#8221;) We can resolve our fears first by focusing on his immeasurable love for us, and then by allowing him to love others through us. His love will quiet your fears and give you confidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading for Justice, Mercy, and Love Thursday, July 30, 2026 The Indigenous theologian Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley considers Jesus\u2019s criticism of certain religious leaders in his day and how they interpreted Scripture: We all can have our various ideas about what Creator wants from us. But when we claim to have God\u2019s only true intentions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27396"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27396"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27398,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27396\/revisions\/27398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}