I used to think, "If I could end up with a woman all my buddies found beautiful I would be happy". This is what I refer to as "Trophy Wife Syndrome". This condition left me feeling constantly unsatisfied. It spoke to an even deeper belief I held. My confidence in who I was was so low I needed others to validate me. One day a friend of mine showed me a popular 90's tv show episode where the main character shared my issue. With eyes wide, cringing, I turned to my friend and stated, "I am him and he's miserable." Do you appreciate or fight those who help you change your beliefs for the better?
DOCTRINE #19: BELIEF
Belief (and believe) means a person is firmly convinced, both according to logic and feelings/emotions. Belief can be with visible proof or without visible proof. Belief with seeing is built by knowledge and experience. Belief is proven in actions.
Question: Do you believe your actions are consistent with what you SAY you believe?
Next Doctrine: Doctrine #20
Table of Contents
If you need it, here is the support from the Word of God...
SCRIPTURE
"8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach:
9 because if thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved:
10 for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be put to shame." (Romans 10:8-11)
(Belief happens in the heart. It is not only logic, nor only emotion, it is both. Everything enters through the heart and comes out of the heart. Belief is a WHAT. It is knowledge.)
"33 Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit.
34 Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 The good man out of his good treasure bringeth forth good things: and the evil man out of his evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." (Matthew 12:33-35)
"7 For as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee." (Proverbs 23:7)
(The King James Version of Proverbs 23:7 was "7For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee." What you believe in your heart (think and feel) will come out in your actions...your actions can either have the WISDOM of God or man's wisdom.)
"19 Thou believest that God is one; thou doest well: the demons also believe, and shudder." (James 2:19)
(Demons have belief because they have seen God. Demons have experience and knowledge in God, but what comes out in their actions is that they shudder.)
"29 Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (John 20:29)
(In the previous passage we saw that demons believe because they see God, they have experience and so did the disciples. If you do not see, yet believe, it is something greater. In fact, you will be blessed.)
"12 And those by the way side are they that have heard; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.
13 And those on the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away." (Luke 8:12-13)
(Belief is something that, when heard, comes into the heart, that can be received with joy, but it can be taken away. You can lose your belief! Have you ever believed that you were going to spend your life married to a significant other, and lost your feelings for that person? Belief is something that can be lost or taken away if it has no root. The demons see and believe, but they are not saved.)
"6 And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing unto him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him." (Hebrews 11:6)
(You have to believe that God exists in order to please Him. Why would you try to please something that doesn't exist? Why would your belief be founded on Him being a rewarder of them that seek after him?)
"1 After these things the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:1-6)
(Abraham did not have a son at that point and God said that his children would be like the stars. Did Abraham see his children? No. Was his wife pregnant? No. He did not have experience with having children, nor did he see his children, yet when Abraham believed, it was called righteousness.)
"23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he gave us commandment." (I John 3:23)
(This is a commandment that Jesus himself gave. Belief is something that leads to actions. If we believe in Jesus, it will come out in our actions. If we have knowledge of who Jesus really was, we would do as He did: love one another.)
"16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." (Mark 16:16)
(Belief leads to action and is proven in our actions. Baptism is a physical effect of what someone believes in their heart.)
"47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth hath eternal life." (John 6:47)
(Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. If your actions prove this, you will have eternal life.)
"14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up;
15 that whosoever believeth may in him have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.
17 For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through him.
18 He that believeth on him is not judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:14-18)
(There were five "believes" in this passage, all of which you have not seen. They were: 1. Believe that Jesus will be lifted up. 2. You would not perish if you believe. 3. Jesus did not come to judge but to save. 4. if you believeth not you have been judged already. 5. and you would be judged if you did not believe in Jesus.)
If our belief is a WHAT, what is the HOW/WHY? We found that God cares more about our How and Why more than our What. The demons believe because they see, yet they are not going to have eternal life. Belief can be experience and knowledge, but it is simply a WHAT. The devil uses his belief to kill, steal, and destroy.
Belief has to lead to something more. In the next Doctrine, we will find out what it is...
