Beliefs Matter

What you believe and how you believe matters more than you can imagine!

Solomon said it.  I believe it.  “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7).

Consider “Talk Show Myths” and “Political, Sound-byte Myths” many of us hear today:

• “All your problems are someone else’s fault” (Freudian myth)
• “The world owes you happiness” ( Entitlement myth)
• “Mankind is essentially good and unselfish” (Romanticist’s myth)
• “Government exists so you can have it all” ( Politician’s myth)
• “The answer to all of life’s deepest conundrums lies deep within you”  (Individualism’s “Wizard of Oz” Myth; also popular with Disney and New Age)  Picture Dorothy of the Wizard of Oz tapping her Ruby Red slippers, repeating the mantra, “There’s no place like home…There’s no place like home…”

These myths represent powerful beliefs resident within our culture today, but they don’t accurately convey the whole story, nor do they take our souls home.  To combat such myths and we need the truth… the whole truth… including myth-busting truths.  So, consider these six statements concerning belief as myth-busting bullets aimed against would-be adversarial assailants wishing to do us harm.

1. My beliefs are MY choice.  You can’t blame anyone else for your beliefs, so  take responsibility for what you believe, in spite of whatever past you might have or culture you inhabit.
2. My beliefs determine my BEHAVIOR.  If you believe God is out to get you… or that you are unlovable by God… or that others are untrustable… well, these beliefs are going to impact your behavior.  So, think carefully (and accurately) concerning your beliefs about God.
3. The world fosters many UNTRUTHS against true belief.  Which is another way of saying, myths can lead to a mess!  For example, the adage, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”  But is that true?  What happens if what you “see” is propaganda?  What do you do with virtual reality?  …with photo-shopped versions of truth? …with airbrushed doctrine? …with fabricated, self-serving perjury played before some jury in hopes of getting away with some lie?
4. Untrue beliefs can be DECEIVING and HARMFUL, leading to great misery.

• 92% of the stuff we worry about never happens.
• We spend far too much of our precious time taking detours, obsessing about things that only later we discover to be untrue.
• Truth is a reliable roadmap that helps keep us away from detours and   moves us toward best, most-optimal destinations.
• Best of all, most of all, when you know the TRUTH, the TRUTH will set you free, and that TRUTH above all others is Jesus (Jn. 8:32).

1. Fasten yourself to beliefs that are UNCHANGING.  Said Jesus, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (Lk. 21:33).
2. Build your life on God and God’s truth; discover how right beliefs are the surest foundation for sound emotional and mental health.  Discover why over 80 times in the gospels Jesus says, “I tell you the truth…”  Take solace in God’s great myth-busting ability as Jesus replies over 20 times, “You have heard it said, BUT I say to you…” (emphasis mine).

The world around us is filled with innumerable charlatans and deceivers.  Jesus Christ has come to disarm them and expose them through the emancipating power of the cross.  Arm yourselves with Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life.  He beats Ruby Red slippers any day!!