I have altered this so much that I cannot truly say that it is an excerpt from my diary. Therefore, my thoughts on consequences and punishment, based on an excerpt from my diary:

I can't get over this one statement/story in my Dorm Devotionals book. A conservative, Christian mother's nonChristian daughter gets pregnant and boldly announces, "I'm getting an abortion."

Instead of objecting, the mother accompanies her to the abortion clinic, reading her Bible and praying the whole way.

WHAT?!

I can't get my mind around that. Can you imagine? That kind of love? "Do what you want," unconditional love. I cannot get around it. I can't imagine ever showing or being shown that kind of love.

And yet, is that extreme the kind of love that we are called to? Or is that just the way God loves us?

Let me tackle that last statement first.

God loves me so much, that if I told Him I was getting an abortion, He would not only let me, but accompany me there.

What??

Why would He do that? Wouldn't He try to stop me? Wouldn't He try to be a good parent? Why would a good parent let me do whatever I want, even something that awful? Wouldn't He try to stop me somehow?

What would God do? Would He remind me of the consequences, then let me go? Or would He just let me go? Why would He do that? God loves me unconditionally. That means He would love me no matter what I do.

No wonder Christians who had formerly lived wild lives feel God's love so much more strongly than churched kids.

Should we then let our kids be wild? Should we hesitate to reprimand them? Not try to bring them up in the church? Let them do whatever?

None of that seems right. What seems right is that we should do our best to tell children the story of God�s love for them. We should not tell them the right or wrong way to live, but why certain things are the right or wrong way to live. We should tell them the whys of certain principles, not just the principles themselves. We should warn kids what happens if they do something bad for them. (Or don�t do something better for them.) Does that make sense?

I asked myself, what is God's definition of good parenting? Let them do anything without punishment? So here are my thoughts on punishment.

God punished Adam and Eve for disobeying Him...Unless those were just the consequences that He told them would happen?

No, that�s not right, either. The consequence was the opening of their eyes. The introduction of evil into the world. (The introduction of the concept of evil into the world? Because you cannot conceive what is evil without having what is good to compare it against. Hence the name of the tree: The Knowledge of Good and Evil. Without the knowledge of what is good and what is evil, Adam and Eve would probably have continued living under God�s standards without questioning them�sort of like young children who have not learned to ask yet why it is good to do our homework.)

And God punished them...why? So they'd know what they did was wrong? Simply because they had disobeyed Him? That can't be right. Could it? I mean, the consequences were enough punishment...

God did warn them, I remember. "Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:17) A lot of people just see that as a rule to be broken...which brings up another interesting topic, why do people say �rules are made to be broken�?...But anyway, they often miss the last part: "Or you will surely die." Therein lies the warning. "You will die" was a warning of the consequence, not of the punishment. God didn't tell them they would be punished.

Is that right?

If I am figuring that right, I have to ask, why, then, didn't God warn them of the punishment? (The punishments being, for women, severe pain in childbirth, for men, hard labor in order to get food.) Going further up the entry, why did God need to punish them after the consequences? (The consequence being that their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked and were ashamed, and the introduction of evil into the human race.) Going farther up, abortion? God would let me have an abortion? Why would He do that?! I am totally not getting around that part.

Ugh. I'm sure I'm confusing a lot of people and also opening one nasty can of worms. I am definitely not saying abortion is okay. I don't think God likes abortion. I'd say He puts the right to human life before the right to make a choice.

But then... That brings me back to my point. Why on earth would God let us do whatever we want? Wouldn�t He try to stop us?

I do know He would warn us. God never not warns us. He never not warned Israel that if they kept worshipping other gods, things would go bad for them. Things did go wrong... Then God punished them. Apparently consequences of sin are not enough and we need to be punished also. (The consequences of Israel's sins, I'd say, probably included the emotional tearing apart of the parents whenever they had to sacrifice their children to the god Molech, the diseases the people contracted when they ate meat that hadn't been cooked thoroughly [still had lifeblood in it], the contraction of STDs when they slept with other men, etc. Then the punishments were the invasions of other nations and the eventual destruction of the Temple and the scattering of their nation.) That's a lot to endure for sinning...

The interesting thing is, some people look at that and conclude, "God is a horrible God." One of my favorite parts of Scripture, however, is the verse right after Adam and Eve's sin. "The LORD made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21)

Can you imagine? Say you are the mother of the daughter from the story. She has been rebellious and wild all through her teenage years and you have feared greatly for her well-being. She finally tells you one day that she has slept with her boyfriend. Can you imagine what hearing that would be like? Your heart is broken. All your loving warnings and attempts at good upbringing seem to have failed. You have a weak hope that maybe that's all she is here to tell you--maybe that's all... And then she confirms that she has gotten pregnant. She is with child--she is going to have a baby.

And then your daughter boldly announces that she is getting an abortion, and will not be moved.

How can you stop your heart from breaking?

And yet you still love your daughter. You will not leave her or forsake her because of a mistake.

This is how God feels. His heart breaks that you have turned away from His loving instruction and have consequently stepped on the path to ultimate pain. He loves you so much and it hurts when He sees that you have turned away from Him.

Though brokenhearted that you have disobeyed Him, He still clothes you. He still shows His love to you. He still stays by your side.

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name?
Would care to see my hurt?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
Of my ever-wandering heart?

-Stephanie

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