What Do You Really Believe?

Written by Michael D. Warden

This article is courtesy of Christian Single.

Imagine that you've been picked to be in a reality TV show. The show's creators offer you $250,000 if you'll allow them to videotape your life for 30 days. They'll do the filming over the next six months, and you won't have to do anything special — just live your life as you normally would. The only catch is that the videotaping will be done in secret. You won't know when you're being filmed until the show airs at the start of next season.

Would you do it? And if you did, what do you think would be the result? What would the videotape reveal about your life and the way you live it? What message or messages would your life-on-tape bring to the world? What would you learn about yourself? And most important of all, what would you discover about your heart?

The Self-Deceived Heart
"If we say, 'We have fellowship with Him,' and walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth." — 1 John 1:6, Holman Christian Standard Bible.

The truth of the matter is this: We live what we believe. We all live our beliefs — each one of us, every day, without exception. That's why Jesus made it clear that the way to know a person's heart was to look at the fruit of his or her life. "You'll recognize them by their fruit. Are grapes gathered from the thornbushes or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit" (Matt. 7:16–17). The same is true of you. Your "fruit" reveals your heart. So what would a videotape of your life reveal about what you really believe?

For example, it does no good to say, "I believe God is trustworthy" if your life is filled with worry. You don't really believe God is trustworthy — that is, that you can really trust Him — or else your heart wouldn't be full of worry. You may wish you trusted God, you may intellectually believe it's the right thing to do, but that's not the same thing as actually doing it. The way you live reveals your beliefs more truly than any prayer of confession or statement of doctrine.

Do you believe God loves and accepts you as His beloved? Then why do you struggle with self-acceptance? If the King and Ruler of the Universe has declared you lovable, acceptable, beautiful, and beloved, why do you find yourself still questioning your own worth or worrying over whether others find you acceptable or "good enough"? The problem isn't in God's power to make you acceptable and beautiful; the problem is in you not really believing it, even though you say you do.

It's this self-deception that robs us of the power of God. We'll never truly believe — and therefore, never experience the true power of God — until we're willing to be gut-wrenchingly honest with ourselves. Examine your life — see what it tells you about what you really believe. Then ask yourself the question that Jesus asked Peter in the storm: "Why do you doubt?"

An honest answer to that question will mark your next profound step toward freedom.

An Honest Appraisal
"Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen." — Hebrews 11:1, HCSB

Wanting to believe is only the first step toward faith. Many Christians live powerless lives because they mistake the wanting to believe for belief itself. Wanting says, "I hope God will provide for me," or "I hope God will show me that He loves me." But faith is "the reality of what is hoped for." Faith isn't in the wanting but in the determined, courageous choice to know a thing is true. Faith is surrendering to the truth and love you cannot see; it's jumping off the cliff into the arms of the Invisible-But-Real. Faith doesn't merely hope. Faith knows.

The power of the redeemed life in Christ comes only to those who have let go of the right to deceive themselves. They don't sever the power of God by claiming to believe truths they have yet to embrace. They're honest, even when their honesty is disillusioning.

If you're struggling with a fear that God won't come through for you, that He doesn't see you, that He doesn't really care for your heart, then stop pretending you're firm in your beliefs, and get honest with yourself and God. If you deceive yourself into thinking you already believe as you should, then what will you do with the fear that still grips you? There's nothing left for it but to beg God to take it away, or to bring you whatever gift you think will cancel it out. But God will not likely do as you ask — His love for you constrains Him. He knows the root of your fear is not in the absence of whatever you're longing for; the fear lies in your unbelief. Even if He brought you the very thing you wanted, your fear wouldn't go away because the unbelief would remain.

Stop focusing on the external things. The thing you lack is not in the world but in your heart. Stop merely wanting to believe and move your heart closer to true freedom. Make the choice to actually believe. Choose Him.

The Dance of Trust
"The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked." — 1 John 2:6

Socrates once wrote that "the unexamined life is not worth living." How much more true this is for the Christian who wants to walk in the power of God. If you desire to be in a place of greater power in your walk with Jesus, you must know exactly where you stand with Him right now. And the only way to know that is to examine your life and learn what it has to teach you about your true beliefs.

Think for a moment about your typical day. As you move through the hours, what do you notice about your heart? Is it present, or is it more often subdued beneath the stresses of deadlines and "to dos"? What about your thoughts? Where do they go and what do they dwell on as the day progresses? Where does your energy go? What stresses you about your day? What angers you or makes you laugh? What do the efforts of your day bring to the world? What is your life producing?

All of these questions lead to one that undergirds them all: What is the overriding truth about my life today?

We claim to live in Christ, but in fact, few of us ever do. If we did, don't you think our frenetic work-till-you-drop days would look vastly different? The question of what truth we're living out must be consciously explored each day — each moment — if we desire to truly live in Christ in a way that brings life to our hearts and to the broken places of the world. The Apostle John described such a life in simple elegance: "The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked." But his description implies far more than mimicry. He's talking about a communion, a unity of hearts — Christ's and yours. It's an intimate dance, and Jesus is the lead.

What does that life look like for you? It's the life you've always longed for yet hesitated to step into for fear it wouldn't prove real. But what if it was? What if it's yours for the choosing? What then?

Are you walking through life as Jesus did, flowing in the steps He's leading you to dance from moment to moment? If not, then isn't it about time you started learning the steps? Isn't it about time you really believed and trusted His lead?

Michael D. Warden is a nationally known author, speaker, and life coach who helps individuals find greater fulfillment in life by discovering and going after their unique life purpose in Christ.

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