A Note to Manny Pacquiao

Manny,

I respect your belief and you standing by what the Bible says. You have said that you do not agree with same sex relationship as is your right. No one should be mad at you or hate you for expressing your belief and your faith. You will now be forever branded as a bigot, narrow-minded idiot, and a hypocrite. Stand strong in your faith. Remember this too shall pass.

However, you drew the line at making gay people look like they do not deserve an ounce of humanity or dignity. Your belief should not make you feel superior to everyone else.  You cannot cast judgment because you do not have the right to do so. You cannot put someone down in order for you to be lifted higher.

Like you, I have also been saved by grace which is the gift of God. With this in mind, I am humbled every day and reminded that I need to be forgiven just like everyone else. I examine myself and try to see my faults before I can say I am holier than the rest of mankind.

All have fallen short; no one is better than the other. This kind of thinking turns people away instead of drawing them near. Who made us judge and jury? We need to show love to all people regardless of color, orientation, beliefs, or disposition in life.  Exemplifying the love and grace of God in action is what we need to do instead of resorting to reactionary judgment. When we pass through this life and on to the next; we will stand before God and be judged for the life we lived.

I leave you with this in mind:

1 Corinthians 13: 4-13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.