Short Note on 'Religion' and Us

So tonight, Sam and I were having a very interesting discussion on the differences, religion-wise, between what he grew up believing and what I did. Even though I was brought up in a Catholic household and Sam was raised Baptist, we have always been able to discuss religion and not get into a big argument; instead, I think we have both truly enjoyed learning about each other's childhood years and the beliefs that our parents taught us.

So in the middle of discussing why people tend to lose their temper when discussing differing Christian beliefs, Sam says,

"I have always believed that, if two people from different Christian denominations essentially believe in God and that Jesus came to Earth and died for our sins; and in discussing differences between each other's faiths tempers rise and people get upset, that is the time to try and forget about those relatively unimportant differences, because the bickering and anger is NOT what God intended for us to do. He does not wants us to fight amongst each other because we're missing the point; we're losing focus."

Then we started talking about what this Focus should be: loving each other as He has always loved us.

And as I sat there listening to Sam say those words, I was wondering, "How can I NOT fall in love with him all over again when he speaks like this?" And when Catholic people ask me how we'll handle raising our children, I think of Sam speaking these words and I am not worried. If we can teach our children about God's love for us, Jesus' sacrifice to save us from our own sins and our need to follow in His footsteps... then we will have done our most important job as parents.