Isn’t it wonderful what Christ has given to us!
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)
Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. (Matthew 19:11)
Jesus gives us faith (ie belief).
Matthew 9:22 Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.
God gave us Jesus and with it everlasting life.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God gave us freedom from condemnation.
John3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Even salvation is a gift from God. It is ours!
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
He then promises another gift!
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
It certainly is. Yet, as the father of six, I get a strange sense of deja vu every time I read Protestant post along the lines of what I am referring to. A sense of gimme. A sense of me, all me. A sense of mine, all mine. A sense of entitlement. A sense of I, I, I, me, me, me.
You know the brats as well as I - the ones who have no gratitude and simply want more and more and more and yet sneer at everyone else because they have all these things. It is all about them. Period. Infantile egocentrism is the term and I believe that it applies to many more than would accept it upon them themselves.
We Catholics acquiese to God. We submit. We are grateful and do not seek to reinvent God or the understanding of God.
That is the difference between Church theologians and armchair Protestants. Church theologians seek to better understand God. Armchair Protestants seek to invent new ways to describe God.
. I will assume that you have scanned at least a portion of some threads after this time. Have my words any validity? Is there a difference between Catholics and Protestants in attitude and in their view of God?
Is there less infantile egocentrism among Catholic posts on this or other threads? Is it less about the individual and more about God? We don't name it and claim it, you see. We acquiese to God and leave it up to Him.