What constitutes a saving relationship with God? Is there some pat formula consisting of an all-encompassing prayer repeated to the satisfaction of the listener, a contrite heart hoping to control urges that had previously controlled it, and a new energy and determination where before had been depression and despair? Perhaps we've known the beauty of a person thus redeemed.
Yet for some, our beauty is in the freedom of our souls, our necessity to love God and accept his love without man's intervention. To tell us how to love is as good as telling us not to love. We cannot--will not--conform to another human being's definition of love. We can only love when nobody tells us to. And we love more fiercely when we are told we cannot. The attempt to wrench away our salvation by telling us we're not doing something by the book only serves to make us grip more tightly the hand of our savior, who for some reason bought and paid for a soul that was clearly marked "Free."
