Christ’s words are immutable

Christianity can be distinguished from other world religions by the uniqueness of its belief that God became man, lived among us, died, was buried and rose from the dead after three days. Christ is the only personage in history who dares speak of Himself in the present tense – “Before Abraham ever was, I am.”

On the other hand, one wonders how our secularised world would look upon Jesus as a human personality devoid of His divinity. A matter which would surely cause derision or perhaps even suspicion is the fact that He led a celibate life.

Chastity is now considered a forgotten, embarrassing and taboo virtue. A celibate life is often looked upon as being psychologically unfulfilling, repressive and impossible to adhere to. Yet, this is the kind of life that Jesus chose to live while on earth and spoke about some of His followers who would do likewise – “for the sake of the kingdom”. 

Another characteristic of Christ which would find opposition is the manner with which He reached out to people that others considered as being sinners. The Lord approached them with much compassion but with the firm purpose of converting them from their way of life.

With the adulterous woman who He had saved from being stoned He insisted that she should “Sin no more”. To the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda He admonished – “Sin no more that nothing worse befall you”. What could be worse than living paralysed for 38 years? Jesus thought that living in sin was much worse. Thus, reaching out to others just for the sake of it is not Christ’s way of loving others but just a meaningless exercise.

Ours is a culture where grey, the devil’s favourite colour, is dominant. There seems to be no absolute truths even in matters of faith or morality but simply subjective opinions influenced by one’s whims and desires.

Therefore, if one yearns for something, no matter how contrary it is to God’s laws, this becomes good not only for oneself but for all. Since there are no absolute truths, ambiguity becomes commonplace leading to much confusion in people’s minds and hearts.

Jesus would have none of this: “Let your words be yes yes no no; anything else comes from the evil one.”

May believers in Christ heed His words which are immutable and not subject to the inevitable erosion of time.

Jacqueline Calleja – Naxxar

Dangerous pleasure

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Taking cannabis to entertain oneself or to forget one’s problems makes no difference. In both cases the user, in the long term, becomes addictive to this drug.

The white paper is passing on the message that an 18-year-old is free to be in possession of seven grams and four plants of cannabis for his or her personal use. This decriminalisation of cannabis for recreational use means that those persons taking this drug will not be prosecuted or sent to the corrective facility.

In my opinion, this freedom opens the door for cannabis users to move on to harder drugs, exposing themselves to serious health issues. Also, it is scientifically proven that taking cannabis is harmful both physically and mentally to the users. This grave risk should not be overlooked.

I am sure that when responsible parents become aware that their teenage son or daughter are experimenting with cannabis, they would do their utmost to nip the habit in the bud!

A cautious approach is called for when reflecting on the repercussions this bill could have on families and society at large.

I appeal to members of parliament so that, before enacting this bill, they heed the advice offered by competent and experienced organisations in this field.

These, for years, have helped drug abusers to end their dangerous habit and start their journey to full recovery.

Phyllis Sammut Smith – Gżira

Roadworks

Is it only me that has the impression that roadworks have increased tenfold in recent months? Everywhere you go, every locality, every nook and cranny of the island one finds roadworks that are never completed, closed roads, diversions. To the point that it is becoming nearly impossible to go from A to B in this country.

This apart from the rampant construction going on in every square inch of the island. The defacing of Malta goes on unabated.

Adrian Xuereb – Żurrieq

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