General Discussion - Sunday, July 26th

Hello fellow nervous friends. I've also been nervously watching this drama unfold for the past week. Like many of you, I registered for an account and paid with a credit card a few years ago. I also paid $19 to delete my information two years ago. Who knows whether that really worked. I am somewhat fortunate because I was not married back then (nor am I now). I was simply a horny man looking for an opportunity outside of my relationship with my ex. I don't stand to lose a family like many of you, but having our identities tied to this drama can follow us for the rest of our lives.

With all that said, I want to encourage you. I cannot promise that everything will be all right. I cannot promise that the consequences of your bad behavior will not affect your lives any further than it already has. The best I can do is encourage and support you. I have seen quite a few messages of repentance. Many of you swearing you have changed and if given another chance, you will never do anything to jeopardize your family's well-being. I hope that is true. I pray that is true. People like us, well, we are stupid. The school of hard knocks, right? We can only learn the hard way. We become complacent in our lives and feel entitled some excitement. A better way of living. Something new and refreshing. Freedom.

I am writing today to tell you that it is all lies. You are not entitled to anything. You do not deserve anything. There is no one protecting you. This person who holds your information does not care about you. He has already cast judgment on the entire list of 37 million. He has called everyone scum bags and determined them guilty (even those of us who are single and have not committed adultery). The public has determined your guilt as well. Look at the news headlines. Everyone calls us cheaters. Some of us are, but not all. Look at the comments on forums. They cheer the release of this information as if the ends justify the means. Forget the children. Forget the spouses. Forget the individuals who never had an affair -- they want blood. They want your blood. You are guilty because your information is in a database. Right or wrong, that is your reality. That is our reality.

Through all this chaos and the emotional highs and lows, as well as the endless hours on these websites reading your comments and hearing from people who stand to lose almost everything, it has become apparent to me that most of you aren't truly bad people. You haven't tried to physically harm anyone. You did not try to take something away from another person. What you did was wrong. What I did was wrong. But it was only morally wrong. And for this, we stand condemned to the world. Someone in another message posted the corollaries to the Bible. I believe it is true. There is much to be learned from this, and that starts with our relationship with God.

Now, I am a practical person. In situations like these, my survival instinct does not tell me to turn to God for help. I immediately think of the lies I must tell, the fake stories I will live, to mitigate the consequences of my poor behavior. But that is just wrong. As I have gotten older in my life, I have realized that I do not know much. Things were simple when we were young, right? All that we were taught in school was either a lie, or transmitted through a teacher with rose-colored glasses. I have realized that there is not much I understand or believe in. But I do believe in God. Too much has happened in my life to believe otherwise. I know without a doubt in my mind that there is a sovereign God and he controls every moment we experience in this life. He allows things to happen, and he prevents them as well. He is a God to be feared, not because he is mean and cruel, but because he is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present. But, here's the real kicker -- he is all-loving as well.

God loves you more than you will ever know. Some of you ask "well then why does he let this happen to me?" I asked the same questions. Then I realized that it was me doing it to me. God did not force me to sign up for this website and seek improper relationships. But he allowed it to happen. And that to most people is offensive. Why would he let it happen, we ask. His ways are above ours. But I can promise you this, and please read this very closely: Right now, the God of the universe is looking at you. As you read this, he is looking into your eyes and your heart and asking for you to accept him. He is asking for you to spend time with him. To open your heart to him. The Bible says that God has the hairs on your head numbered, he knows the names of every bird in the sky, every fish in the sea, and he has perfectly placed every star in the sky. And, most of all, he created you. Every part of you is perfectly designed. Now, why do we sin. Well, because we're born evil. That's a different topic. My point today is that there is hope. There is redemption. Society may condemn us for our sins, but the God of the universe will not...if we accept his forgiveness. If we accept his love. And there is only one way and that is through his son Jesus. You have to accept that Jesus died for your sins.

As I write this today and think about all the blood-thirsty people who want to harm all of us and make us pay for our sins, I think to myself "who are they to condemn me and determine my guilt?" As I mentioned earlier, I did not commit adultery. I was not married when I registered and I never met a married woman. Why should I be caught up in this mess? Society is evil. I have done the same thing. I still do it today. It is so easy to judge others and determine them guilty. And boy do I want blood. But this experience has taught me that I am no better. My sins are no better than the man who commits murder. Morally, perhaps so, but not in the eyes of God. I know that Jesus died for my sins and all sins.

So as I sit here and pray for all of you and your family's, I want to encourage you to pray as well. Close your eyes and ask God for forgiveness. Ask him to take this pain away. Plead for mercy and ask him to spare your family. Your children, your spouse, parents, and anyone else who stands to be affected. God loves them all. Get right with God and then let him work on your behalf. Because, brothers and sisters, as you have seen, nothing in life is permanent. Nothing is safe. Here one day, gone the next. Everything you have worked for can be plucked away in an instant. Our stupid decisions destroy lives. Only God can redeem us. Only God can save us. He is your friend and loves you. Let him comfort you today.

PS I expect this post will be deleted but for those who read it before it is gone, please reach out to God. Ask him for mercy, help, answers, protection. He will provide. He will comfort you during this time. When society is waging war against us, God is a friend on our side.

Good luck, friends.

/r/AMHack Thread