Every individual’s life is rooted in one form of belief or the other. These beliefs play a major role in our lives, and as such, the way man interacts with his society is largely influenced by what he believes. There is no such thing as a man without any form of belief. Even atheism – a belief that God does not exist is still a form of belief.
Beliefs are what we have accepted as truth. We hold our beliefs dearly like a piece of egg that our very lives depend upon. Our beliefs like garments are worn over our personalities. Suffice it to say that our beliefs define us. Because of the value placed on our beliefs, any form of criticism or indecent representation tends to awaken a spirit of anger/violence in us. This in some cases has escalated to bloodbath. Little wonder why the most savage and violent of conflicts are those relating to religious beliefs.
What are the origins of our beliefs?
We actually get our beliefs from our parents and those we grew up with. We were told what to believe without examining them on our own. While some of us called Christians accepted the faith in our adulthood, others have the Christian beliefs entrenched in them after birth. At birth, our innocent minds, tabular rasa, were completely free of any information about the world. As we grow, little by little, the Christian data were inputted into our minds.
We were brought up to understand that Christianity is the only way out and anything short of the Christian faith leads to eternal damnation. But as we advance in years, we begin to understand more about Christianity and can really decide to either continue or opt out. Deciding to continue in adulthood is more of personal conviction than a dogma that has been fed into us. This prompts the question: Why are you a Christian?
In answering this question, one honestly needs to search his life from childhood.
• Has Christianity d
rawn you closer to your maker?
• Have you had any experience to recount of how the God of Christianity has been good and merciful to you?
• Does Christianity make you a better person to your loved ones and the society at large?
• And above all, can you truly say Christianity is the only way out?
If your answer to any of the above question is no, then you need to really sit down and think. Perhaps, you have been wasting your precious earthly time on a religion that guarantees you nothing. If on the other hand you answered yes to any of the questions, you still need to sit down and really think it over. Are you practicing it the way you ought to because Christianity is not really a religion but a way of life?
It is an established fact that nowadays people use Christianity as a front to cheat unsuspecting people. People commit all forms of vices under the pretext of “being born again” or having seen the “light”. For those of us who have chosen Christianity out of personal conviction, it is high time we redirected our lives if we had been living short of the Christian values. Our Christianity must be in totality. The Lord says “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves…” Matt 10:16.
As sheep, how do we arm ourselves against the wolves of this world when we have not been saved from those lurking in our minds? As sheep, how do we triumph over life’s tempting issues
when we don’t focus on the Lord? As sheep, how do we not go astray when we have forsaken the Shepherd?
We need to start thinking, talking, and acting Christianity. By his works, a man declares who and what he is. Christ says “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid” Matt 5:14. Everybody loves being around the light. When people start noticing those Christian values in us, they will be drawn to us. They will want to have a feel of that “light” in us after they have been fully persuaded in their minds (Rom 14:5). They will then agree that Christianity is indeed the only way out. We need to prove our Christianity always. We need to affect a life everyday.
