gooey rot

there has been a lot of talk about 'tolerance' in the past few years. but if you honestly think about all the times you've heard it used, it really just means, 'don't you DARE disagree with ME!'
that's not tolerance; that's egomania.
but you may still be thinking, 'how could a loving God exclude anyone? how could a merciful God send anyone to Hell?' good question.
i don't claim to know all the details of how it works, but i know that God has STANDARDS and because He will never contradict himself, He justly enforces those standards.

here's an illustration:
not too long ago, i was making potato soup. i reached into my bag of potatoes to select those which needed to be used soon: the older, wrinklier, softer ones. well, one of those potatoes had a spot. a black and squishy spot, which had started permeating the whole potato.
so what did i do? did i say, 'oh well,' and throw the whole potato in my soup pot? NO! i knew that part of the potato wouldn't taste good, so i used my knife to cut out that spot, along with any part of the potato that might have been starting to turn brown. i even took a closer look at the potatoes that had been touching it, to be sure the rot hadn't spread across to them.
what kind of cook would i be if i'd left that nasty, rotting spot on the potato? and what kind of host would i be if i'd served it up to my guests?

our sins affect us like the gooey, black rot affects the potato. it grows, it eats away the good stuff, it turns everything around it into a stinking, gooey mess. God says, 'no gooey, black rot allowed in My presence!' and He sticks with His standards.
sadly, all of us, on our own, are full of gooey, black rot. and we're hopeless to fix ourselves. we're as good at fixing our sinfulness as a black, drippy, stinky potato is at becoming creamy white and solid again!
but thankfully, God also says, 'I'll save you!!!' and He sent His own CHILD to die on our behalf. all we have to do is admit our wrongness and accept His gift!
that is LOVING! that is MERCIFUL!
the question is not, 'how could a loving God send anyone to Hell?' that is like saying, 'how could God have integrity!?'
rather, the question is: 'how could you reject God's gift and CHOOSE to go to Hell?'