What Do You Believe?
What do you believe? What do you believe about marriage, parenting, relationship, work, God, Jesus, or about the Holy Spirit and what he offers you on a daily basis?
These are important questions, because what you believe about them will affect how you act toward them and how you will allow them to influence you on a daily basis.
Once a belief is set in place it becomes the underlying influence for all thoughts and actions for the rest of your life until it is challenged and replaced!
To better understand this concept, look in Acts 16:31 where Paul is answering his jailer who asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the English language there are several translations to the word “believe.” In the Greek, the language the New Testament was written in, there were several Greek words that each had a different definition for believe.
If someone were asked today, “Do you believe in God?” They could translate that to mean, “Do you suppose there is a God in heaven?” or “Do you believe in God so much that it effects your every day life?” and anywhere in between.
The Greek word “pisteuo” is used in Acts 16:31, and means to place confidence in, or to believe something so much that it becomes a part of why you do what you do.
Paul was not saying, “If you are willing to admit that Jesus was the Son of God, then that’s all you need to do!”
What Paul was saying was, “If you are willing to allow your belief in Jesus to change your entire life, to effect every decision, to become the why you do what you do, then that is all you need to do.”
This also works in all areas of your life. Your beliefs about anything affect your thoughts about those things and then effect your actions. So, the basis of what you believe becomes the driving force of everything you do.
Here’s the struggle. Before we knew Christ as our Savior we lived according to our sinful nature. As we went through our lives living this way we developed beliefs about ourselves, others and the world. Suddenly, we become Christians and we receive a new nature. Just because we have a new nature and a new “why” to do things, doesn’t automatically erase what we have chosen to believe up to this point.
The demonic want you to keep believing your old conclusions based on your old nature and old way of thinking. If they can keep you doing this, then there is a great chance that you will continue in old, sinful behaviors. Even if you work real hard at performing, the new actions that the church will teach you, you will eventually become tired and your beliefs will take over.
Until you challenge your old beliefs with the truth, your beliefs won’t change. You have to go through this process so that your beliefs (your “pisteuo” in the Greek) can affect everything you do!
If you want to change anything in your life, you must go to the depths of what you believe about that person, concept or situation and challenge it with the truth. Otherwise, you may perform in a new way for a little while, but eventually you will grow weak or tired and your belief system will take back over.
Changing these beliefs can be quite a battle. You may have to admit you are wrong or go against what your family has believed for years. If that what it takes then you have to do it in order to believe.
Jesus himself said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters- yes even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26 NIV)
Know what it means to believe. Know what you believe. Know why you believe it. Then you will be prepared to make the changes necessary to live the life you are chasing after!
These are important questions, because what you believe about them will affect how you act toward them and how you will allow them to influence you on a daily basis.
Once a belief is set in place it becomes the underlying influence for all thoughts and actions for the rest of your life until it is challenged and replaced!
To better understand this concept, look in Acts 16:31 where Paul is answering his jailer who asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul responded, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.”
In the English language there are several translations to the word “believe.” In the Greek, the language the New Testament was written in, there were several Greek words that each had a different definition for believe.
If someone were asked today, “Do you believe in God?” They could translate that to mean, “Do you suppose there is a God in heaven?” or “Do you believe in God so much that it effects your every day life?” and anywhere in between.
The Greek word “pisteuo” is used in Acts 16:31, and means to place confidence in, or to believe something so much that it becomes a part of why you do what you do.
Paul was not saying, “If you are willing to admit that Jesus was the Son of God, then that’s all you need to do!”
What Paul was saying was, “If you are willing to allow your belief in Jesus to change your entire life, to effect every decision, to become the why you do what you do, then that is all you need to do.”
This also works in all areas of your life. Your beliefs about anything affect your thoughts about those things and then effect your actions. So, the basis of what you believe becomes the driving force of everything you do.
Here’s the struggle. Before we knew Christ as our Savior we lived according to our sinful nature. As we went through our lives living this way we developed beliefs about ourselves, others and the world. Suddenly, we become Christians and we receive a new nature. Just because we have a new nature and a new “why” to do things, doesn’t automatically erase what we have chosen to believe up to this point.
The demonic want you to keep believing your old conclusions based on your old nature and old way of thinking. If they can keep you doing this, then there is a great chance that you will continue in old, sinful behaviors. Even if you work real hard at performing, the new actions that the church will teach you, you will eventually become tired and your beliefs will take over.
Until you challenge your old beliefs with the truth, your beliefs won’t change. You have to go through this process so that your beliefs (your “pisteuo” in the Greek) can affect everything you do!
If you want to change anything in your life, you must go to the depths of what you believe about that person, concept or situation and challenge it with the truth. Otherwise, you may perform in a new way for a little while, but eventually you will grow weak or tired and your belief system will take back over.
Changing these beliefs can be quite a battle. You may have to admit you are wrong or go against what your family has believed for years. If that what it takes then you have to do it in order to believe.
Jesus himself said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters- yes even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26 NIV)
Know what it means to believe. Know what you believe. Know why you believe it. Then you will be prepared to make the changes necessary to live the life you are chasing after!
Johnny Walker is a Christian counselor and the founder of Family Works Counseling.
Labels: belief, Christian, growth, relationship, sprirtual
posted by Johnny Walker at 6:15 AM
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