How your thoughts of God can shape your life
August 5, 2015 by Las Vegas Black Image Magazine
Filed under Conversation
BY DR. ROBERT E. FOWLER
DR. ROBERT E. FOWLER
Your view of God shapes how you see the world.
You can ask any person on the street about God. At some point, you’re going to get an opinion of how God interacts with the world. You might hear things like, “I can’t wait until God does [X],” “I don’t understand why He doesn’t do [X],” or “How can you believe in a God when He isn’t doing [X]?”
It’s a big deal, whether you’re a faithful Christian, casual follower or even an atheist.
If you believe that God is loving, caring and forgiving, you’re more likely to exhibit those same attributes when dealing with others. You’ll trust God more with the care of the world, and volunteer to give people a helping hand when they need it.
If you see God as more concerned with right and wrong, you may be a little more judgmental or concerned with justice. You’d also be more concerned with helping only those who deserve it, and leave the undeserving ones in the world to themselves.
If you think God doesn’t exist, you still harbor a theological worldview. Your view that “there is no God” is still a view about God. You’d be more concerned with the totality of your life, and that of your relatives, than others. It may not even be selfishness, but rather self-preservation in a difficult world.
To put it in “big picture” terms, our view of God will ultimately shape our interaction with the world. We’ll either approve of what He’s doing and want to join in; try to be on the “right side” of God in order to reach an afterlife; or simply do our own thing and hope for the best.
