Don't always err on the side of grace
It seems that, too often in our application of Scripture, we try to achieve the most " beneficial" application rather than the most straightforward. We think about the person involved ("me" or "you," for instance) and try to couch biblical imperatives in softer terminology. In other words, we like to blunt the hard edges of the Bible so as not to offend our sensibilities. It's not that this methodology is always entirely without cause. Obviously, we should seek to read Scripture through the lens of love. To be clear, "For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself' " (Gal 5:14). It would be myopic to read a command in Scripture without understanding that the law somehow comes back to me loving others instead of myself. Even so, when a clear command in Scripture seems unloving or unkind or unfair, my conscience is misinformed. It doesn't matter what the command feels like . God command...