I believe because I truly believe

I don't know if it was the result of a teaching I heard at youth group or if it was maybe brought on by a devotional I was reading at the time. Whatever the cause, the effect was that in my teen years I was challenged to learn about my faith. I wasn't deciding whether I believe God was real or not, I was seeking to learn what I believe about Him and why do I believe it. I needed to decide for myself that I believe because I truly believe, not because my parents do. I couldn't just use my parents' faith as my own. While the practice of faith/belief by association may work in other religions, it doesn't in Christianity. Being around other believers, my parents having personal relationships with Jesus, going to church - these are all forms of association, but they don't make me a Christian any more than being around the barn with my horses makes me an equine myself.

I thought of it like this : 

My parents and I have this friend in common, Jesus. We all hang out together in a group with others and sometimes we just hang out one-on-one with Him. We all love Him and we talk about Him a lot. 

While I consider Jesus my own personal friend, we became friends in the beginning because my parents were friends with Him. So it's a little like I'm friends with Him because my parents were. But I'm old enough now to develop friendships on my own, ones apart from my parents, so I want to be friends with Jesus simply because He's my friend, no longer because He was friends with my parents first.

I was out to discover my faith. If I was going to share my beliefs with others, I needed to know why I believed this way. I knew that if I was asked about why I believe the way I do, my answer needed to be more than, "It's how I was raised", "because the Bible tells me to", or "I just do." I had to know what I believed and be able to explain it in a way that would make sense to others.

I had this knowledge that when I face trials in life I need to know exactly what I believe and it needs to be mine. If I don't know why I believe what I do, then the storms of life will sweep me away, of this I was certain. So I took the challenge presented to me and I sought out the answers to my questions. I built upon the foundation that my parents had been laying all my life and I came out of the journey with a stronger faith of my own.

Why am I telling you all this? Because as I was driving in the car the other day, Newsboys' song, "We Believe" came on the radio (a song I absolutely love, by the way.) As I was pulling into my drive, singing along with these words that I can feel, I suddenly began to wonder - "Do the people who read my blog know what I believe?" I decided right then that I was going to write this post (though it's taken longer than planned) and share with you my faith. While every post has my faith in and behind it, I'm sure there will be more posts on what it is I believe specifically in the future. For now, I'm going to share it through the lyrics that started it all (you can listen to/watch the song by clicking here if you'd like.)

In this time of desperation

When all we know is doubt and fear

There is only one foundation

We believe, we believe

In this broken generation

When all is dark, You help us see

There is only one salvation

We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father

We believe in Jesus Christ

We believe in the Holy Spirit

And He's given us new life

We believe in the crucifixion

We believe that He conquered death

We believe in the resurrection

And He's coming back again

We believe

So let our faith be more than anthems

Greater than the songs we sing

And in our weakness and temptations

We believe, we believe

We believe in God the Father

We believe in Jesus Christ

We believe in the Holy Spirit

And He's given us new life

We believe in the crucifixion

We believe that He conquered death

We believe in the resurrection

And He's coming back again

Let the lost be found and the dead be raised

In the here and now, let Love invade

Let the church live love, our God will save

We believe, we believe

And the gates of hell will not prevail

For the power of God has torn the veil

Now we know Your love will never fail

We believe, we believe

These are the Truths my husband and I live by. We believe in the Trinity. We believe Jesus died to save us. We believe He conquered death when He rose again. We believe that He went to prepare a place for us and that one day He'll come back to take us to His home. 

We believe the Bible to be the Word of God. We believe it to be true in it's entirety. This Book is our guide through all life's stages.

These are the things we will teach our children someday. We will lay the foundation in their hearts and lives by the way we live and the words we speak. We will tell our little ones of our friend, Jesus, on day one of them being ours. As they grow up, we'll encourage them to be Jesus' friend too. And someday they'll face the challenge themselves of discovering their faith and making it personal.

May I pass the challenge on to you today, Friend? Do you know what you believe?