:: In.a.Mirror.Dimly ::

I have learned that I need to ask myself one simple, foundational question in my Christian walk. If I can’t answer this question in the affirmative, then I know that I need to address it before trying to do anything else:

Do I Believe God Loves Me?

Does that surprise you? Sometimes it still surprises me. However, there is a certain logic to it.

In the scriptures we read that we love God because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). If the greatest command is to love the Lord, then this passage tells us how to do it: Recognize God’s love for you and what he has done for you.

There’s some pretty basic theology in the mix here, but the emphasis is in the application and final effect of those beliefs. Do you believe God loves you to the point that you can love him back?

There are a few other questions we should ask after answering that:

Do I Worship the God I claim to love?

Do I Love Others?

Wherever I am at in my life, I have been learning that a healthy Christian walk lies in simply answering this basic question because it opens up so man other possibilities once it is settled. We could talk about many other significant points of theology and spirituality, but this is our foundation.

A rather wordy ex-inmate who wrote a lot of letters once said, “If I do not have love, I am only a resounding gong and a clanging cymbal.”