Belief Changes Things
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Have you ever had an idea that turned into a belief that changed your life?
Have you ever had an idea that turned into a belief that changed your life?
When I was about 10 yrs old I got this idea. “I’m going to be a HOF running/full back.” This idea eventually became a belief. Ideas can change. Beliefs are much stronger. So I started playing catch with my dad ever chance I had. I would run everywhere. I watched football constantly trying to analyze plays and blocking. This beliefs affected every area of my life. It changed me, then I got to Mingus. You see, my parents never put me in football until high school. Not only was I already behind the curve, my buddy was a superstar RB already. I ended up on the O-line with the primary responsibility of blocking for the RB. I was crushed! But looking back now I learned something.
Ideas can guide you, but beliefs shape you. And every belief starts as an idea. We all have beliefs that affect us each and every day. Don’t believe me? You believe that if you step on the ground, it will be solid. That is a belief that causes you to walk and run with confidence. That’s also why when the ground or whatever you step on gives out from underneath you, it shocks you. Something strange we do as Christians is we will say we have a belief, but it’s really just an idea.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.
It’s easy for us to use God’s Word, the Bible, as a weapon. But do we use it as a guide? We easily use it to defend out ideas or validate our points, but do we allow it to shape us? Define us? Do we have a belief that the Word of God is just that? Or is it just a good idea that we can pick and choose from?
How would our lives look different if we really believed what we said we believe? Let’s take an example from Galatians.
Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.
The justice of God is different than what we would call “justice.” God’s justice is based on principles. So how many times do we mock God by thinking we can plant one thing and harvest something different? We plant lies and wonder why we reap distrust. We plant fear and wonder why we reap anxiety. We plant lust and wonder why we reap discontentment. We mock the justice of God and then wonder why we don’t see the goodness of God in our lives.
This is just one example. The point is, do we believe what we say we believe? We must answer that question. If Jesus is just a good idea to us, then we can’t call ourselves “christian.” Christian means “little Christ.” If we don’t follow Jesus, and believe IN Jesus, then we must change our ways. The Bible calls this repentance. Turning from the wrong direction and heading in the right direction.
(Alter call)
Small group question:
Do you believe the Bible?
Why or why not?