From preachers to candle makers, this word seems to be an ongoing favorite amongst those trying to stir the hearts of mankind. What you believe will determine who you are, what you do, what you love, and what you hate. It divides families, creates offenses, starts wars, and splits nations. Beliefs also inspire dreams, create purpose, ignite passions, and often makes life worth living.
With such power in one word, it begs the question daily, "What do I believe?"
I am curious to hear from you guys.
What belief is among your top 5 most passionate perspectives on life?
(Please make it more owned and developed than a one word answer. Anonymous's welcome.)
11.19.2008
BELIEVE
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18 comments:
I have many beliefs, but 1 of my top 5 would be: "I BELIEVE THAT A BABY'S LIFE BEGINS THE MOMENT THE SPERM & EGG CONNECT" This has caused quite the bit of controversey in my family as my husband & sister believe differently. We have had many a heated debate! The most common being: What about cases of rape, or incest? Good questions to ask John Boy, good questions!! This might just start another "deep" conversational blog!!
One of my strongest beliefs can best be summed up by Saint Augustine (emphasis mine):
"Find out how much God has given you and from it, take what you need. The remainder which you do not require is needed by others. The superfluities of the rich are the necessities of the poor. Those who retain what is superfluous possess the goods of others."
Richard: This quote does an amazing job of summarizing the Old Testament truth of blessing and prosperity blended with the New Testament truth of giving and sacrifice. I think this may be one of my new favorite lines. This happens to be one of my most passionate beliefs as well.
Liz-Biz: To those that would question your belief I would present these questions: If God is real and the Bible truth, then can God form you and know you in the womb, as He claims multiple times in Scripture, without you being a reality?
How far along must a sculptor be before his work is considered art. When is the acceptable time for you to crush the clay and claim it wasn't yet art?
"For you formed me in my mother's womb... I was made in secret, skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth"
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you: before your were born I set you apart."
"He is the potter, we are the clay"
Again, we share this passionate belief.
Here is a strong belief of mine that I heard put into words over the last couple of days. It has to do with when we are waiting for something, perhaps on something that we feel God has told us will come to fruition.
"Delay is not denial."
There are many reasons why this happens: we need to mature to be able to handle the results, we need to change a habit in our life, learn to be patient, learn to be appreciative, we are being tested, or for our faith to grow. I have found that most of my life seems to be in DELAY, but I trust it is not DENIAL.
Seth Stimson
My mottos from when I was a kid have been - "gerðu öðrum það sem þú vilt að þeir geri þér" and "truinn flytur fjoll"
I know, I know, this is in Icelandic but has been my motto for I don't know how long and it'll look weird if I try to translate it ;)
Anyway, the first quote is basically the Golden Rule (Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you). And the second quote is about faith and the power of the mind/willpower and persistance.
BUT now I have a new favorite. I like the quote Richard Morgan wrote on here. Like you said Jonathan, this also happens to be one of my most passionate believes.
Oh and btw - good job at practice today ;) you made it look like it was easy!
Whatever you do unto the least of these, you have done unto me.
I could get on many soap boxes about beliefs I have(I know, you are thinking, "Oh no, Mom! Please don't!) :?)
I am only going to share one though!
A strong belief I have is that everything happening in my life is part of the puzzle.
Does that totally release me from stress? Absolutely not! As strong as that belief is, I still have to work at putting myself in God's hands and releasing the life stress of the moment to be a part of that puzzle!
As I work on that in my most stressful times I start the thought process that just around the corner is how God is going to use this in my life and in the life of the Divine Appointments He has placed in my life!
Thus I can live by:(what you have heard so many times, Jonathan)
"My availability gives God the opportunity to do a miracle through me~therefore, I consider every encounter a Divine Appointment."
OK! I can't resist~One more.
This has been posted in different places in my home for many years and I believe this!!!!
I don't know where I copied it from though.
"Christianity is not an ethical code. It is a love affair, a spirit filled way of living aimed at making us professional lovers of God and people."
Liz, I know you don't know me, but for the interest in the topic, here's what I think--maybe it will help you--help others.
My husband and I had a recent discussion about abortion when incest/rape are involved after I had a patient and the topic of abortion came up (she was not raped and it was not incest though). When incest and rape are involved, it really made me question how I could explain to a co-worker, friend, etc.. why abortion still isn't morally ok in those situations. I decided that in either of those cases if the child was born, and later someone decided to kill them because they were the result of a rape or an incest siutation, it would be MURDER, so while in the womb, it is still MURDER because life begins at conception--like you said. We must protect the innocent! It helped me to think about it that way.
Christy Rice
Christy - Fantastic explanation! It is such a debated topic & very emotional. Thanks for the comment!
Well, since Joyce got two, here is another that I have struggled with for many years: Do I believe it the way it was taught to me my entire life, or do I believe it the way my mature mind & heart interpret it now. My dad just about had a heart attack tonight when I told him I wasn't sure I believed that "once you are saved, you are always saved." I have wrestled with this belief for some time. I used to be adamant that once you invited Christ into your life, even if you didn't nurture the relationship, you would still go to Heaven when you died. Now, I am not so sure about that. I would love to start a HEALTHY conversation about this with you, Jonathan...if everyone commenting can keep from getting their feelings hurt & not mind if someone disagrees with your beliefs. I am very familiar with what the Bible has to say on this topic, but I feel as though it can be interpreted many different ways. See, I told you it was coming J.C.!!
P.S. - If you dare not debate this publicly, I totally understand! My feelings won't be hurt in the least!
LizBiz- I have no problems talking about this subject publicly, as it is hands down my #1 most passionate belief in life. It's hard for me not to write a book's worth of response here. I'll try to be brief...
I believe the calvinistic theology of eternal security to be the most dangerous doctrine that has ever crept in to the church.
If you read the Bible cover to cover focused only on the topic of salvation and are willing to be conformed to whatever outcome it gives you, you will find, hands down, that from Genesis to Revelation, the message is clear:
Salvation requires that we live in a continual state of belief, repentance, and obedience.
When we willfully or habitually choose to dismiss any of these in our lives, we step out of the Bible's definition of abiding in salvation.
Some definitions to help explain:
Saving Grace: a removal of past sin and guilt and a gaining of undeserved acceptance from God
Empowering Grace: the ability to do that which we are unable to do on our own (i.e. walk without sin)
Belief: It's more than an acknowledgement of who He is and what He did... it is a perpetual state of trust and submission
Repentance: a changing of thinking, being conformed to the character of God and the mindsets of the Bible; to be sorry
Obedience: hating sin and loving righteousness; not just the 'do nots' of scripture, but continual involvement in the active commands (love, serve, give, pray, etc.)
Just because you got hired on to a job does not guarantee you will recieve a retirement package. You must walk out the job you were hired to do until your time is up.
There is not one promise of God in the Bible that is not conditional. He is love, but He is also judge. I'll post you some scriptures that the majority of the church chooses to band-aid with verses that are easier for them to digest.
Just a few of the many verses pertaining to true salvation:
"If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments" -jesus
"he who endures to the end shall be saved" -jesus
"repent and believe" -jesus
"Immediately they receive the word with gladness; but they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time" -jesus
"the servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes."
-jesus
"many will seek to enter and will not be able to" -jesus
"If the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" -jesus
"from that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more" -john
"He who loves me keeps my word"
-jesus
"to us who are being saved" -paul
"I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified" -paul
"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall"
-paul
"you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you-unless you believed in vain."
-paul
"we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." -paul
"we plead that you not receive the grace of God in vain." -paul
"godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation" -paul
"Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? --unless indeed you are disqualified." -paul
"I mourn for many (in the church) who have sinned and not repented"
-paul
"I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain." -paul
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith" -paul
"Some have already turned aside after Satan." -paul
"Some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves with many sorrows."
-paul
"Affirm this constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works." -paul
"we must give more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away" -hebrews
"And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?"
-hebrews
"So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief"
-hebrews
"those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience" -hebrews
"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation" -hebrews
"Faith without deeds is dead"
-james
"If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" -peter
"make your calling and election sure" -peter
"for it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them."
-peter
"beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked"
-peter
"If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."
-john
"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments."
-john
"Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may recieve a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God." -john
"Contend earnestly for the faith"
-jude
"Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."
-jesus
"he who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments" -jesus
"Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown." -jesus
"Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." -jesus
How you get saved is how you stay saved: believe, repent, obey
At some point I will need to add the nature of saving grace, empowering grace to accomplish the above scriptures, and that "when we do sin, we have an advocate in Christ Jesus".
...I guess I just did. ;)
Good grief! I bet you were up half the night! I am so thankful for you Jonathina!! Your insight into the Bible is unreal and you clarify a lot that I get caught up & confused about.
Mine's simple. I am motivated continuously by the final commission given as Christ left earth.
"Go and make disciples of men!"
My belief in this drives me to first, live a life that gives me the right to carry out this purpose and second, drives me to work continuously on the mission. How can I profess to have been given the most amazing gift imaginable, yet fail to find ways to present that gift for others to accept?
Its that simple for me.
nice post JC, definitely in my five as well.
Another one of mine is the founding fathers' intent for our nation.
http://www.eadshome.com/QuotesoftheFounders.htm
whew! I shouldn't have gotten me started...
The HEARTS of the founding fathers lied with the Almighty. A common question among Americans today is "What would the founding fathers think?" It's so obvious what they would think, and what they expected for this nation. Although, actions govern a nation, thankfully, not ideals. The action, however, that our founding fathers took, was to let the people decide. What the people wanted was what they got, and they got a democracy; which now exists in 49 states (California sucks).
separation of church and state?
easy one. Any historian/human being with a brain would look at the day and age of where and how someone lived when learning about them. People do it all the time with the Bible (usually incorrectly). SOOO, our founding fathers came from a nation that persecuted THEM becuase they wanted to worship God with all their heart, with all their mind, and with all their soul. England persecuted them very harshly, as did TONS of other counties around the world. This persecution from the Reformation was going on at the same time as the rush to the New World. Thousands of religious fugitives fled for the New World (who do you think the Pilgrims were?? They shook when they heard the Word of the Lord. Happy thanksgiving!)So the religious tolerance that our founding fathers were talking about was different denominations of Christianity; after all, the Europeans did not socialize much with other religions besides their own. “The name of American, belongs to you…[and] with slight shades of difference, you have the same religion.”--George Washington's Farwell Address
uugggh, I need to stop. Please go to the link.
Man, I will always love you and your wife so much. This is an interesting topic. Quite interesting.........
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