Dangerous for Good, Part 1: OrientationSample

Beliefs Matter

For the longest time, I believed that God was mad at me. Maybe it was the churches I was brought up in, how I heard and felt the gospel that was presented to me, or maybe how my parents raised me, and other authority figures who were angry, and I believed it was me. It is very difficult to love someone or be loved by someone whom you believe is mad at you.

What you believe matters—it matters a whole lot. What you believe is the currency of the kingdom. We all have belief, faith, and hope to invest and to spend. Handling your beliefs is very much like wealth management; how you spend and invest your beliefs will accumulate over time. They can bring debt, or they can bring equity; it’s hard to tell what they will produce on the day you’re signing the papers, just like a lot of investments.

Everyone on the planet believes something. Even believing there is nothing or no one to believe in is a belief. We may use other terms for it: attitudes, perspectives, bents, or persuasions. The words I think can be a clue for spotting beliefs. Not always, but usually, you can swap the words “I think,” with “I believe.” But the weightier of the two terms is belief. When I start a sentence with the words, “I believe,” rather than, “I think,” it seems to make what I’m about to say more significant:

I think that the chicken tastes better than the beef.

versus

I believe that the chicken tastes better than the beef.

I think you are the one I should marry.

versus

I believe you are the one I should marry.

I think you can do this.

Versus

I believe you can do this.

Which is true? When I slow down and take an extra second before voicing my thoughts or opinions, I simply ask my heart, “Is this what I think or is this what I believe?” The lighter things in my world usually are best offered or shared with, “I think.” The moments in my life when I have conviction, commitment, or a weightier sense that “this is true” are moments and circumstances when I upgrade to, “I believe.”

What you and I “believe” matters. It really matters. And this is the dangerous proposition that creates either disoriented or oriented image bearers dangerous to others and themselves or dangerous for good.

Here’s my point: The two Kingdoms know we have this currency of belief to spend or invest. The economy is organized and orchestrated by God to operate this way. What we believe has repercussions; it has literal benefits or consequences based on how we spend it and where we invest it for Life. It has so much impact that what we believe actually has authority in our lives.

Tomorrow, I will share with you how one false belief had a lasting impact on my life for decades.

As you ponder all this with God today, consider asking Him:

Father, how have I seen you? Is there anything I am believing about you that isn't true? That you are angry, distant, or don't have time for me?

Jesus, there is so much good to see, understand, and believe about you. Where do you want to take me in my journey of belief about who you are and what you have done for me? How do you want to expand my belief that you are good and are for me?

Spirit, would you take me on a journey of my beliefs? Would you show me what I'm believing that is good and true and any lies I might be believing that are in the way of receiving and then offering love?