Admiral Ozzel has just brought the Empire’s fleet out of hyperspace too close to the Hoth system, hoping to surprise the Rebels. In doing this, he inadvertently allowed the Rebels to detect the fleet and put up their energy field.
This infuriates Vader, who activates a view screen. As the admiral is about to explain what he has done and why, Vader kills him with a Force choke and tells everyone within earshot, “You have failed me for the last time, Admiral.”
Despite what some might believe, God is not like this.
God does not have a “sin counter” on us that when we reach a certain amount of sin, He kills us or sends us to hell.
Just the opposite. God sent His Son Jesus to come into the world and reconcile us to Him (see John 3:17). For those He loves and love Him, Psalm 103:12 tells us, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.”
God is patient towards us. As 2 Peter 3:9b tells us, “but [the Lord] is patient toward you not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
God is not like Vader. Love keeps no record of wrongs.
We are told in 1 John 4:8 that God is love. If one replaces love with God in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, one would get:
God is patient and kind; God does not envy or boast; God is not arrogant or rude. God does not insist on His own way; God is not irritable or resentful; God does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God never ends.
How does knowing this about God impact our lives?
How can we not share such marvelous news? We cannot and should not keep this to ourselves.
