A belief is something you accept on faith.
… is something you have a strong conviction about
… is something that you consider true and honest
… is the mental acceptance of something or someone
A belief is also the acceptance of something good or bad / right or wrong. If you have a strong conviction that something is true … it becomes part of your belief system.
Your beliefs determine your behavior. Behavior is the things you do on a daily basis, the things you are consistent with in how you react. Your beliefs will also control your choices. Choices are decisions you make based on what is important to you. Your choices help make the things you believe in happen. Note that I said “help”. I know there are times when you make the right decisions for all the right reasons and the result is not what you planned or wanted. However, without making decisions, you will never be able to make the important things that you believe in happen.
Here are three true stories that show how beliefs affected these teens’ behavior and choices.
WG was a beautiful girl at 17, with a very ethnic look. His bone structure was beautiful and he photographed amazingly. However, she was quite low in terms of the modeling community and big-name agencies repeatedly told her that she would never do much work in the industry. She chose not to believe that and to continue to persecute anyone who represented her. She turned to irrefutable agencies and scammers who took advantage of her desire to succeed in the world of print modeling. He found himself in uncomfortable and compromising situations because she believed something was wrong. He believed that he could do something that he could not and that affected his choices and his behavior.
CB had a beautiful singing voice. Although she wanted to be an actress, her strength was singing and she used to sing to relax while preparing for acting auditions. He was told over and over again that he should seek out local music concerts that could use this talent while allowing him to perform. She questioned her talent to the point where she wouldn’t believe something was right. She followed that belief and did not pursue a music career at all and eventually even gave up acting.
LH was a natural when it came to creating art. He could bring a canvas to life almost effortlessly. One of the first who knew that he loved to create and believed that he was indeed gifted in that area. He chose to believe the truth and he earned a bachelor’s degree in art and still creates art regularly. His choices and behavior were a response to his belief.
So what do you believe in? About being happy – About yourself – About God
If I told you that you are capable of doing something …
or that you weren’t able to do something …
and you BELIEVED me, how would this affect your choices / behavior?
Do you think God made you?
I believe the Bible is alive and valid, not just a textbook full of history and rules. I also believe that life is not useless. I believe that we are here on earth to enjoy God’s creation around us, and to share how great God is and how great his love is for us.
God says this about himself in the book of John in the Bible. God also says that He has a plan / purpose for your life.
In the Psalms it says that God brought you together before you were born. Do you believe GOD? So WHAT is your purpose? Your purpose is to glorify God at every moment of every day. Glorifying means revealing or making the glory of (God) clearer by his actions.
Do you choose to believe this about your life? If so, how will this affect your behavior and choices?
Sometimes your choices have to be improvised based on the situation and perhaps a crisis. If you don’t know what you really believe or what is important to you during those times, you usually won’t make the best decision. You will choose the easiest path, at least the one that seems easiest to you at the moment.
Your choices can ruin your life in seconds, and you have a life of seconds to live. If you live to be 75, you will have lived 2.4 trillion seconds. Just one of those seconds can change your life forever.
THE BIGGEST CHOICE YOU WILL EVER MAKE IS TO BELIEVE IN JESUS. If you choose to believe what the Bible says about who Jesus is and that He came to save you from your sins, you will act on that belief in your behavior and choices every day.
There is no other belief that affects your life as much as this belief. The Bible simply says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”
If you really don’t know much about Jesus, I would challenge you to pick up the Bible (try the Standard English Version, it’s easy to understand) and read the book of John in the New Testament. The life Jesus lived was a life based on who He was. His behavior and choices were always in response to who He was and what He believed.
If you have already made the decision to believe in Jesus, I would challenge you to study how that belief is reflected in your behavior and daily choices. As you study, if you find that your behavior and choices are not strongly based on your belief in Jesus, study more about Him and who He is and His desires for you to live an abundant life.
Remember that tomorrow is another day of seconds. How will you live and what will you believe so that those seconds add up to a life full of joy, peace and contentment?