Dare to believe! Will you? Do you? Believing is ALWAYS your choice, your decision. What and Who you believe in is also your choice. You do have free will… and all of the responsibility and ramifications from that status. My belief is that if (not really a question) we want free will then we HAVE to accept the responsibility from our choices. So, Who do you believe? Are you a visual-ist, relying only on what you see in front of you? Do you believe what’s in your heart? Sometimes you can’t do both. I would argue that our faith (spoken in love) needs to lead and direct when there is a conflict… actually it should always be foundational to our decision making and behavior.
Let’s face it… our world is hurt, angry, and violent. I would also suggest – confused. Confused about a great number of issues, not the least of which is – self. Far too often we respond in like fashion to either how we are experiencing what is occurring or whatever we think we should… typical but not always effective. Certainly we need to resist the violence from others and protect the weak; but is there a response we can provide that doesn’t only meet violence with violence? Is our goal – resolution? If so, then if we are unsure, if we aren’t convinced we face a very uncertain reaction.
I believe we always have options but it begins at the lowest rung in the (fill in the blank) ladder – you and me. Our response and what we ‘know’ is the basis of that response and depends on who we are and are becoming and Who we believe and Whose we are. Do we operate as those who are convicted and convinced that Jesus IS our personal Lord and that we are changing as a result of this truth? Until you are convinced you will never be convicted and without this you will never be changed. Nor will anyone who listens to your words.
How we express our confidence displays our level of conviction. The more convinced we are will become our foundation. As long as we realize that it isn’t our responsibility to convict others, that our responsibility is to present the message and allow truth to be the convict-er then we don’t get caught up in other issues that have no relevance and typically lead to defeat and refusal. The Holy Spirit is the one who can use how we provide the truth to convict others and all this leads to change. Is Change our goal? If so then we will follow a different path to lead others to the truth – that Jesus is the answer because He is the only way.
We all need to look at our actions and our words and listen to the message we are presenting to others. And as we grow in understanding, to use this in our message to demonstrate who we were and who we are continuing to become. I tend to say that if the Lord did all He’s done for me… He will do it for you as well. We all were lost and sinners but that’s history… it’s who we are becoming that we should focus on. God’s not done with us yet.
