Defending Your Beliefs
It’s not enough that you simply read the Bible, make it to church almost every Sunday, or pray over your dinner every night. If you’re not defending your beliefs, then you’re not genuinely enhancing your knowledge and your belief system.
Currently, the average Christian watches from the sidelines. They enjoy the feel-good messages at church, they crack their Bibles open from time to time, and they say the same tired, old prayer over dinner every night. But when push comes to shove and their Christian tenants come under attack, they quietly look the other direction. They prefer to avoid the confrontation and keep their beliefs to themselves. Unfortunately, in doing this, they are missing an amazing opportunity to share God’s life-giving message AND the chance to enforce and empower their own belief system.
Now, I’m not asking you to create a sandwich board, grab a megaphone, and evangelize your beliefs on some street corner. That will get you nowhere, except maybe in the poor or crazy house! What I am saying though is that unless you are speaking and arguing your beliefs, they are intangible thoughts in your head, without fertile soil in which to grow and blossom. They are simply a packet of seeds without real purpose.
Like with every learned skill in life, unless you become a constant student and practitioner, you will never really become accomplished at it.
I practice piano every chance I get. If I stop playing for a certain amount of time, when I’m on the road for my job, or bogged down by work at the office, my piano-playing skills become rusty. The same thing goes for my work. I’m in the finance and real estate business, so I’m regularly reading the newest books and articles on this subject. It’s my job to educate myself, my clients, and my staff on the latest techniques. If I didn’t do this, my business would most certainly crumble.
The same goes for your Christian Beliefs. If you don’t spend time and effort bolstering them, they will begin to erode and crumble away. In today’s world, it’s hard to be a professed Christian. You will get push-back for it and may even lose some friends and associates. I know that I have in my business.
However, what I have gained by my honest and ongoing profession of Christian beliefs is an incredible and compelling testimony in God, and that is well worth the sacrifice!
If you have never led someone to Christ, defended your beliefs from attack, or led a Bible Study, maybe it’s time for you to enter the “battle.” I guarantee you that your life, your thoughts, and your faith will be enriched tenfold for it.
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PRAISE BE TO THE LORD MY ROCK, WHO TRAINS MY HANDS FOR WAR, MY FINGERS FOR BATTLE.
