I have been thinking about 'belief' since this assignment. Some of my beliefs are unique. I have other beliefs which I share with thousands of people across the world. I have other beliefs which I may share with only a handful of people. Various beliefs connect me with various kinds of human beings - male, female, young, old, rich, poor, Westerners, Hebrews, or Africans. . .the list could go on and on. The thoughts that rule the way we see the world around us link us to people we have never met.
I think there is too much emphasis on 'belief' though. The word, according to Webster, means a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing or conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence. It's purely in the mind.
We've all heard the phrase, 'Actions speak louder than words.' It's a proverb found in many languages, including ancient Greek. It seems that humans inherently know that if someone's words don't match up with their actions, then something it wrong.
So, I think about my beliefs, and I wonder how they affect my actions. I am convicted of certain truths - how do they change the way I live?
For example, I believe that there is a God. How does this change the way I live? I believe he first revealed himself to the Israelites on Mount Sinai through His Torah. How does this change the way I live? I also believe that Yeshua of Nazareth was His Son, the Messiah. Does this affect my actions? Should it?
I'm only nineteen years old, and I am still finding out what I believe. My mind is always changing (but I know there are a few that will never change). But for the first post of this new blog, I'd like to begin to look at how my beliefs, at this time, affect my life. An extensive self-examination would take a while, but we could start with the most basic ones. Or maybe they're the most complex.
How does belief in a god change my life? I think it depends on what sort of 'god' I believe in. I believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Joseph. Jewish people still don't speak or write his proper name - instead, they write YVHV. If I believe in the Torah (which I do), then I could see what sort of god this god is.
There's a cool story in Exodus where Moses goes to get new stone tablets (he broke the first ones when he threw them at the golden calf the Israelites were worshiping) and God passes before Moses.
"Then the LORD [=YVHV] came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." (Exd. 34:5-7)
So, I believe this story is real. I believe God really passed before Moses and said these things about himself and that those things are true - that he is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, but also does not leave the guilty unpunished, etc. Just believing in this god gives me belief that these other things exist - love, faithfulness, rebellion, sin. Of course, many people believe in love even if they don't believe in God - most cannot deny the existence of love. But not everyone believes in sin, that there is a system of right and wrong in this world. It changes the way I act; I would (or at least should) avoid sin, avoiding doing wrong, because in that sin, I experience punishment. But there's still chance to be forgiven by this God of compassion and love.
Crazy. This isn't typically stuff that I think about. This is one of the reasons I started this blog - writing exercises my mind muscles. Hopefully, I can meet some other people stretching out their mind muscles and we can all do jumping jacks together!
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