What Christians believe

In the bible there are many references to the heart, or our inner self. God does not look at how we present ourselves externally. Rather, he examines how we truly feel “in the heart”. So this need for things to be heartfelt suggests that we must be genuine.

Love is all important. The bible notes that it is important to love God, and other people. This is a reference to pure sacrificial love and not sexual attraction. Pure love involves understanding, empathy, acceptance, sacrifice and caring.

Many people who do not have these beliefs tend to reject Christianity outright. They feel that they can be good people without the need to have Christian belief. Although it is true that anyone can do good things it is not easy to maintain that stance. Everyone has the capacity to act in a bad way so something more than belief in our own goodness is needed. I personally feel that Christianity provides the answer. It is a strong mechanism for internal transformation and the avoidance of evil.

How does Christian belief work ?

In my view Christian belief is effective for the reasons that follow.

• The belief in a supreme protective and loving being is reassuring. So we feel protected and know that we are not alone.
• We all have a body, soul and spirit. By acting on our spiritual side we can detach from self-interest and more easily modify our behaviour.

• We seem to have an inbuilt understanding of morality and the difference between good and evil. Yet all of us are capable of doing bad things or thinking bad thoughts.
• We all have good and bad sides and can separate the good and evil aspects in our minds.
• By developing our spiritual side (our good side) we can more easily counteract any negative tendencies.
• God is seen as inherently good and incapable of evil. The devil, however, is seen as responsible for evil and for driving us to do bad things. If we accept this we can more easily reject and change our own bad behaviour.
• Christianity considers that by God’s grace we are forgiven and may receive salvation. However, it requires us to truly repent and be sorry for our sins. If we are genuine when we do this it is transformational and we receive the Holy Spirit. This belief clearly drives us to improve.
• By having a focus on others we avoid issues arising from undue self-interest. So this reduces our levels of stress about such issues. It also removes aspects arising from self-focus, like pride, greed and the need for power.