In today’s world of gray, where definitions change from one form to another, it’s difficult to get a handle on the meaning of anything. We seem to have a need to legitimize every kind of belief, except the ones that matter. So, I was thinking about this reality that we face. I came to a conclusion that reflects this reality: If everything means something, then nothing means anything.
The above statement is one that probably reflects our culture the best. We have a lot of opposing views fighting for attention or validity. But we are allowing ideas to have the floor that need to be rejected instead of coddled. We don’t realize that there’s a cost when we start doing this. You can’t begin to include aberrant beliefs without diluting the norm. We are being morally inclusive at the expense of the morals themselves. It’s like a glass of lemonade. It’s good because it’s tart and sweet. But if you start to add some things to it that don’t belong, like bacon grease, and maybe some margarine, etc, it becomes a mishmash of things and becomes something repulsive. Who wants to drink that?
That’s what happens when you legitimize everything. There’s no standard anymore. There are no things that we can hold to anymore. One idea is just as good as the next because we can’t tell someone that what they believe is wrong. But let me tell you that being accepting of wrong ideas isn’t loving, it’s actually the opposite. People deserve to know what truth is.
The reality is that every idea can’t have value. If every idea had value, then the ones we held to as traditional values would lose their meaning and significance. The reason we value things is because they are significant, and special, and true. When did we become afraid to say, “That’s a bad idea.” If we want a society with value and significance, then we need to hold to ideas that have value and significance.
So, how do we address these things? In the arena of ideas, it’s important to meet people from the approach of natural law because these are things we can agree that are true. What can be shown to be obviously true can be given legitimate significance in people’s minds. Aberrant ideas can be easily dismissed because they have no naturally obvious significance. When you approach others with arguments based on truth, their significance becomes more apparent. Getting people to think about why they believe what they believe can start to break down the barrier they have built up to truth. And the reason it’s important to get people to think about why they believe what they believe is because sometimes even they don’t know. They’ve never really thought about it. It just seemed OK to them. But many things that seem OK at the outset fall apart upon further examination. History has proven that to be the case.
All that I said in the beginning is not to diminish the role of the Holy Spirit. But it’s a means of breaking down mental barriers people already have built up against belief. Because I believe when you break down those barriers, then you have an open door. I can’t convince anyone of the Gospel message. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. But we can get them to examine and challenge some of their beliefs.
AV 1 Timothy 2:5: “For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” This is where truth really begins. Many want to believe in many roads leading to God. But the Bible speaks expressly against that. There can’t be multiple truths, so there can’t be multiple ways to God. Just like there aren’t multiple roads that lead to your house. Common sense dictates this is true.
AV Romans 1:20: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” God shows evidence of Himself in just the creation around us. These things not only show us that He exists but also something of His character and nature. And just like His creation has clearly defined truths, we can know that there are clearly defined truths concerning things in the spiritual realm.
Acupuncture treatment takes a holistic approach to health care and is cialis samples particularly useful in providing pain relief, reducing the impact of such form of disorders in the people. Here we may note that the symptoms frequently disappear at night or while sleeping and when they wake up in the morning, the first thing they soft cialis pills do is check their social accounts. Hypochondriacs? Given our family history – and our understanding of the subject improved, so did its definition purchase viagra and we now have several very effective ways of dealing with the problem. Abundance of intake of alcohol and smoking is also pill sildenafil one of the reasons which cause erectile dysfunction in men. AV John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jesus told us Himself that He was the only way to God. This verse goes along with what was stated in the first verse. The way of truth, the path of truth, the only way to God is through His son Jesus Christ. It’s made very simple for us. Yet people want to make things complicated. They don’t want to believe things are a certain way. Often times, because that requires change.
AV 2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” God also tells us what is true by His word. He wants us to be confident in His word. So, He tells us that we can count on this written word. We can align our lives with it. We can use it as a manual for our training in righteousness. And when we do that we can know we are on the path of truth.
AV John 8:32: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The great thing about truth is that it makes us free. Once we know the truth, we can then start to act on it. The truth makes us free from sin. There’s also a liberty in Christ that the Bible talks about. We have liberty when we walk within the bounds that the Bible talks about. But there’s also a joy and peace we feel when we embrace the truth of the word and begin to walk in it. This is the life that truly has meaning.
AV 1 Timothy 2:5: “For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”
AV Romans 1:20: “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
AV John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
AV 2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
AV John 8:32: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”