If you believe in hell, fine. If you don’t, fine. But if you’re a Christian, then the only thing you should be concerning yourself with is how well you personally are following Christ. Are you obeying what Christ himself called “the Greatest Commandment of all,” the “most important commandment,” the commandment of which “there is none greater,” the commandment upon which “all the Law and the Prophets hang”?
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (The Great Commandment, Matthew 22:34-40)
There it is, right there: everything, according to Jesus Christ himself, that we’re supposed to know about God, his relationship to us, our relationship to him, and our relationship to others.
Love God, and love your neighbors as you love yourself.
Do that–spend every moment of every day doing that—and then see how much time you have left over to worry about what happens to people who aren’t you after they die.
Mind your business—do what you know you’re supposed to do, what Jesus commanded you to do—and forget everything else. All the rest—especially anything having to do with ultimate justice in the afterlife—is God’s business, not yours. If the cup of your life isn’t filled to the brim by your trying to truly fulfill The Great Commandment, then you can be sure you’re not doing it right.
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