Recently, I started reading the book FAITH & DOUBT by John Ortberg. Last fall, I heard the author speak at a conference I attended and I was intrigued by his thoughts. Basically, the premise of the book is that every person of faith experiences some doubts. Sometimes we say we don't, but our actions say otherwise. For example, we can say that God is watching over us all the time, but the truth is that we often don't act as though God is watching us all the time. If we did, we wouldn't do some of the things we do because we would be too ashamed to have God see us do them. Yet we do them anyway as though God isn't really watching.
I haven't read the whole book yet, but it does resonate with me because I am more and more convinced that we who are followers of Christ need to deal with the "realities" of our thoughts and beliefs and be honest about them. It sometimes seems to me that we who are Christians are not willing to be "honest" about our faith -- about the doubts we sometimes have. About the struggles that we have to do the right thing. About the questions we have about stuff we read in the Bible. It somehow feels "wrong" or a sign of weakness for us to admit that we have some doubts about God and the Bible. Yet, I am convinced that most, if not all, people have some doubts about God and this thing called Christianity. I know I do some times and I believe it is good for us to deal with them and wrestle with those doubts.
I want to encourage you to be "honest" with God and others about your faith journey. It is okay to admit you sometimes have doubts. If you aren't honest, you will end up feeling hypocritical and it will rob you of the joy and life that God wants you to have. As I said before, I haven't read the whole book (Faith & Doubt) yet, but based on what I have read so far, I highly recommend it. I try to write some more about this in my blog in the days and weeks to come.
Have a great week!
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