The necessity of faith in an infinite God

Belief is powerful, both positively and negatively. To believe and act upon the right things has infinite consequences for good but to believe the wrong things has infinite consequences for harm. 

Faith is necessary. By virtue of being created, we are ¹finite and therefore ²dependent beings. ²We must engage and operate by trust/faith to function properly. 

We must trust because we are finite and therefore dependent beings. God alone is infinite in love, wisdom, and power.

Who or what do we trust? We either place our trust in ³ourselves or in someone infinitely greater-wiser-more powerful than us.

When we trust in God and recognize He - not us - is greatest of all, we can accomplish amazing things. But if our faith is placed in the wrong thing(s), it can result in us doing incredibly harmful and destructive things. How harmful and destructive is determined by ⁴what we believe best brings life, how deeply we believe it, and the actions we take because of our belief.

Faith, coupled with the extent and amount of the gifts we have been given, determines how much good or harm can be done. The more highly gifted a person, the more they can be a means of great evil or great good.

Faith is powerful, and when coupled with the right object - i.e., the all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving God - it can release in and through us amazing results. To do amazing things requires amazing faith, but not faith in anything but in the right thing i.e. the all-powerful, loving, wise, and amazing God. The benefit, value, and effectiveness of our faith are determined by the object of it.

Truly amazing outcomes are the combination of great faith in an infinitely great object-Being.  The more we recognize the greatness of the object - God - the greater our faith-trust in that object grows, and the greater the impact we have for Him and His kingdom.

Great faith in the wrong thing doesn't work. Neither does no faith in the right thing.

For a further discussion on related topics, check out the following: 

The essence of God's life and therefore ours.

Why do the Father and Son love each other?

Why are relationships important?

Is God dependent?

Beatific vision - what is it?

What is life and love?

 

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Footnotes:

¹By finite, I mean we are not all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present. I am not saying we are not able to do far more than we presently do. Our capacity for great good and achievement is far greater than any of us realize, but only if we operate according our design i.e. when we are fully “plugged in” to our Creator who is the source of infinite life and love (which starts in this present life through Christ and is not fully participated in until we are with him face to face in eternity). We are, after all, like God or god-like if you will. And we are this way, so we might participate in all that God is, to the greatest extent possible, without actually being Him - we are not God (infinite in love, wisdom, power, and existence) and never will be. We are finite and wholly dependent on God to be all we are designed to be.

²In the physical realm, it is easy to illustrate our dependence. We must have air, food, water, and shelter to survive. In our present circumstances, we have come to take for granted that air, food, and water are not only helpful but vital and not harmful. We trust this is true because we have found it to be so. But if we went to an unfamiliar environment - such as an alien planet - we would be cautious because we wouldn't know whether the air, food, and water there are life-sustaining or not. If we don't take the time to find out, it could cost us our lives.

³Trust in ourselves includes trust in persons or things we think or hope we control, i.e. we are ultimately trusting in our ability to obtain from something or someone else what we need - and we may, for a short time, but not ultimately. God ultimately controls and sustains everything, and our experiencing the benefits of these is a gift from God, whether we recognize it or not. To not acknowledge this, however, has significantly dire consequences. This eventually results in us no longer having these good gifts or the provider of them, once we leave this world.

To trust in ourselves also means we think we are more able and wiser than God to take care of ourselves. Though we might not openly admit or even think this, our actions tell us we believe this. 

⁴This can be wealth, power, pleasure, or whatever we think (believe) will ultimately give us what we most need.

Having faith in God does not mean we can't believe in ourselves; it means we can't believe we are wiser than God. It is not just OK but good to recognize and acknowledge our abilities as long as we also recognize they are not and will never be greater than God, but in fact come to us because of God. Neither will they give us what we ultimately need and seek, no matter how great they are. 

The necessity of choice

Choice is essential. It is a ¹vital part of why we have innate value. Our worth and dignity are tied to our freedom to choose i.e. free choice is an essential part of our significance. Without it, we are like programmed robots who do not pursue God freely.

However, choosing disobedience (i.e. rebellious independence) with its negative consequences shows the critical importance of choosing God over attempts at being our own god. Though we are free to choose, we are ²not free from the consequences of our choice. It is through painful consequences, we hopefully learn to willingly and delightfully choose God's way - as we were designed to - over our own way i.e. the way of independence from God...the way of Adam. 

Both our free choice and our choosing the right direction are vital, i.e. we can choose whatever we wish, but that doesn't change that the consequences of our choices are according to our design. To act contrary to how God designed us is to suffer loss and bring harm to ourselves i.e. to lose God, and all that comes with knowing Him. 

Our freely choosing the right direction is God’s aim. He wants us to choose freely, but also correctly. He doesn't want us to choose to live contrary to our design, but neither does he desire us to be automatons. He lets us choose freely, even if it leads to our own destruction. But He also desires we choose correctly as well as freely. 

It is truly our choice whether we pursue God or not but our dignity and the ³greatness and strength of ¹our value – our innate worth - make this a ³difficult and ongoing process. 

After we accept his offer of restoration from our rebellion, we still must be weaned from being our own god and persuaded to freely pursue the only true God. To keep our dignity intact, God does not force or program us to choose him. It is only in freely choosing God we can truly and fully experience God's glory to the greatest extent possible, as well as our own, i.e., to experience all He intended and designed us to be and partake in. 

This process is not difficult for God but for us. Choosing to be our own god is so ³deeply and subtly bound up in our heart of rebellious distrust (unbelief), we are slow to relinquish our rebellious independence and freely submit to God in total dependence/trust - as we are designed to - even after we've been reconciled by His grace. We are slow to believe someone is wiser than us and trust He cares more about us and is better able to provide what's best for us than we can - especially when circumstances look like the opposite is true.

Our challenge is we are free but also dependent at the same time - far more dependent than we are usually willing to recognize or admit. 

And this is the heart of our sin… refusal to admit our dependence on God for all things - even our very existence and breath itself. 

If we are brutally honest with ourselves we believe to be truly free we must be independent of God and if we are to be dependent we can no longer be free. God however knows our greatest joy - and his greatest glory in and through us - comes when we freely and delightfully (willingly) choose dependence on God and not on ourselves. Not to minimize us, but just the opposite... so we will fully be and experience all he created us to be and freely recognize God for who He truly is - the source of life, love, and all things. 

The irony is, when we do, we experience our greatest purpose and meaning - i.e. we are maximized - if you will - when we are most humble/ dependent; when we act according to who we are, dependent image-bearers of Almighty God. To say it concisely as the bible does, to live we (to God) must die (to self). 

So on the one hand we must completely have free choice to be and ¹live as the true image-bearers God designed us to be. Yet our will must be totally submitted to our Creator ³in order to fully display that image and experience who we are to the maximum of our design, God's greatest honor, and our greatest joy. 

Our submission to God must be done both freely and fully to experience God to the greatest extent possible and properly honor Him according to His true worth. We are created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever at the same time. Though these may be distinct and appear in opposition,  neither happens without the other, because of how God made us.

The following links are a further discussion on related matters...

We are created for glory

Does God value us?

For a further discussion on choice, click here.

Why freedom of choice is important click here

How sovereign is God? Click here. 

Giving and receiving glory

Do we have a "free" will or are we heavily influenced? Click here

The value of paradox and truths in tension click here.

The question of fairness click here.

The necessity of mercy click here.

Is the election and wrath of God unreasonable? click here.

The practical importance of God's electing grace click here

How we are free to choose yet bound, click here. 

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¹The more aligned we are with God's will and design, the more we experience our truest significance and greatest joy. 

Also the more we freely choose God, the more we honor him. 

For these reasons God will not violate our choice. This is so we might gain the most out of our participation in the community of Father, Son, and Spirit i.e. our experiencing God to the maximum of the potential God created us for without our being God ourself.

²We do not live in a random world. The universe and everything in it operates by design. If we go contrary to that design we are not aligned with reality. This causes harm to others as well as ourselves.

³The level of pain and suffering we inflict upon each other is the greatest evidence that we cannot function properly as designed without being united to our Creator.

⁴Our ability to choose is at the heart of who we are and an essential part of our innate value. If we choose wrongly, the necessity and importance of having choice does not go away, but is misdirected. The challenge is our being redirected to choose correctly again.

The primary reason for this challenge is choice is essential to our makeup, but the pull of our misdirection (rebellion) is equally as strong in the wrong direction as it is in the right direction (submission). The strength of our rebellion is equally as powerful as the joy of our willful submission. To have the ability to enjoy God as great, our ability to refuse God must be equally as great.  

⁵To fully appreciate what we have, the possibility of not having it must also exist. The *absence of good makes the presence of good all the sweeter.

*or the possibility of its absence 

The exposing of globalism and its dangers

This is not necessarily an endorsement of Trump. However, one thing a Trump presidency has done is force the ²globalists out in the open and exposed them. 

In America, we are free to believe whatever we want, including globalism, but to pretend to be a ³patriot when one is a traitor to America's founding principles instead, is deceptive and wrong. I am not saying you have to agree with those founding principles; I am saying don't ¹pretend you do when you don't, which globalists and their minions often do.

Then we can have an open discussion of the virtues and fallacies of globalism or any other system. What has made America unique is the free exchange of ideas and the opportunity to engage in open debate and respectfully disagree. Globalism wishes to shut down - even kill - that exchange i.e., to censor the free exchange of ideas. This is at the heart of "cancel culture." It is not conducive to a flourishing society, no matter who promotes it.

Not everything desired by those sympathetic to the globalist agenda is necessarily bad, such as taking better care of the planet. However, deception is wrong, regardless of how justified one thinks their end goal is. If an honest person is sympathetic to globalism, it would be worth reassessing that sympathy, knowing that deception is common to their methodology.

If someone wishes to be a ²globalist it would serve them better to go somewhere where globalism is gladly embraced and live with the fruit of that world view, not try to turn America into a globalist system that only allow some to rise to power and feast off the blessings of liberty and a system built off of free-market exchange of goods, services, and ideas.

America is not perfect, but people come here because it's better than where they came from. Freedom to think, do, and speak as we wish - as long as it does no actual material or physical harm (vs perceived harm) to our fellow Americans - is a central tenet in the founding of America. The "American dream" of being free to advance your station in life or impact in the world for good is not unique to or created by Americans. It is a universal aspiration. America has been historically the best place to live the universal dream that all humans desire. This is why America attracts people from all over the world. 

Whether good people within the globalist view of the world understand it or not, globalism takes away our liberties to think and speak freely, which ultimately leads to tyranny (e.g. censorship or worse) for everyone else not in power. 

The uniqueness of our system in the USA is it protects the voice of the little guy (as well as everyone else) and keeps him from being drowned out by the majority. If we ever lose this, the little guy - basically you and me - is ignored if not destroyed, leaving only tyrants to rule.

America has much to get right but if we wish to remain free to figure that out, globalism must be rejected and ⁴freedom of speech protected.

For a discussion of socialism vs capitalism, and how it relates to this article click here. 

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¹The left tries to "backdoor" those with a more conservative worldview by sounding like a moderate or even conservative at times. Obama was a master at this. 

²What is the driving force behind globalism? When you get past the more superficial elements of its agenda it is control of the economic system of the world for the benefit of those few who seek to control it. This is why you have people on both sides of the political aisle advancing it. In truth, globalism is exactly like communism in this regard. Some would argue they are one and the same.               

Trump is an existential threat to the globalists (and their destructive agenda). The primary promoters do not care about being right or what you think of them. They're fighting for their existence and only focused on succeeding. Fair play or truth are not guiding principles for them. Winning at all costs to retain power or gain greater control over everyone and everything is. 

Globalism is the essence and embodiment of what it means to be a control freak. Staying in power is more important than being good, right, or honorable. This is their guiding value, not morality in the traditional meaning. They are more concerned about being feared and obeyed than respected or admired. They are relentless in their pursuit and will eliminate you if necessary (figuratively or otherwise) to achieve their ends of power and control.

I should add many who embrace or are incorporated into the globalist camp are not necessarily aware of the destructiveness of this underlying agenda. Many are sincerely passionate about some of the values promoted by globalism (and the globalists are quick to latch on to these sentiments and incorporate them into advancing their agenda). However, those few who have a nefarious agenda (control of the economic system of the world for their personal benefit vs the benefits of those within that camp) have cleverly grabbed on to and harnessed these sincere passions and incorporated them to appeal to a good sentiment and give the emotional drive and appeal of an otherwise clearly evil and very destructive system. 

A perfect example is environmentalism. There is a strong sentiment today for stewarding our planet more responsibly. I am totally in agreement with that sentiment and value. Being a surfer for 45 years has likely played a role. Fossil fuels can be reduced if not eliminated altogether given all the developments in alternate energy sources over the years. The issue isn't whether this is viable, it's that there is an unwillingness to invest in developing alternatives to fossil fuels. Ironically, though it shouldn't surprise us, the globalists own and control the fossil fuel industry. 

However, what was formally called "global warming" plays right into the hands of the globalists and their desire for world control.  In truth, it's a bait-and-switch tactic. They need a global problem to rally people around a global solution - which globalists claim to offer - even if they have to fabricate one. Climate change may be real - it's obvious the climate has changed up or down over the years - but a steady upward trajectory in global warming is an unproven conjecture yet to be clearly established. Many scientists argue against it as well as for it. And "climate change" advocates predictions of some apocalyptic demise of the planet have fallen short consistently. 

How does Trump fit into all this? Trump's brilliance is not his ability to think deeply but to think strategically and broadly. He is more like a general on the battlefield with a genius in knowing strategically how to address a crisis once he has all the facts - facts that are often withheld by globalists - often within his very administration it appears. He is about results, not style or manner of operation. He is a bottom-line pragmatic businessman, not a politician.  This is why so many support him… they are tired of politicians who promise everything but do nothing - or the opposite i.e. more harm than good. This is why Trump has the support of the highest percentage of minorities (blacks and Hispanics in particular of any president in years, maybe ever). People want results, regardless of race or religion. This is also why globalists dread and hate him... he gets results. Results they despise because he is also a ³patriot (he loves the principles of freedom on which America was originally founded, which is an obstacle to globalists achieving their agenda). 

Globalists love freedom also, just not for you and me. They love the freedom to exploit others which is actually slavery for everyone else.

³ Not the "American, love it or leave it" no matter how stupid it becomes variety, but those who love the founding principles of freedom of speech, religion, assembly and so on.

⁴We are free to say whatever we wish and can have an opinion regarding an issue but we are not free to harm others. 

Words have consequences both good and bad. When someone lies about another person this can harm their reputation as well as incite others to take harmful actions against the person being lied about.

There is a fine line between a lie and an opinion. Opinions are not necessarily facts.  It is okay to state an opinion but to claim an opinion is a fact when it is not, crosses the line e.g. To say you think or believe someone is a nazi is an opinion. You have a right to believe this even it untrue. But to publically claim someone is a nazi when they are not is stating this as a fact when it may not be true at all. 

You can believe the moon is made of cheese and say it all day long. But saying it does not make it a fact. And if you or others take actions because of your words that cause others harm, you are accountable for causing the harm. 

Our value is the foundation for offenses

Because we are significant and valuable - as bearers of God's image - when we are treated otherwise, something is taken from us. What is it that is taken? You can call it a sense of dignity, worth, respect, etc. 

Instinctively we all know this is wrong, especially when we are on the "receiving" end. 

We also know someone should restore the one who has been mistreated, i.e. someone should pay for the loss. 

So what are the options?

*We (the offended) can pay for it - i.e. forgive the offender - which means we incur the loss. 

*The offender can pay for it - i.e. restore what they took or damaged ... or

*Someone else can step in - a substitute - and cover the loss they caused. 

The foundation for right and wrong.

Because God created and sustains us, all we are and have comes from him. Therefore, we owe it to him to live in a way that acknowledges this i.e. honors him for who He is and what he gives...yet few rarely do. And only one (Christ) did this perfectly.

And because we don't we not only dishonor him but we cut ourselves off from the life and love we were designed to receive i.e. His life. Not because God rejects us, but we reject him.

Without his life in us and love flowing through us, we can never be all He designed us to be. Because we do not recognize him as our Creator, Sustainer, and Provider or seek to live for his honor - but our own instead - we are no longer ¹spiritually alive i.e. alive to God. We have disconnected from the Source of life, love, and all things and cut ourselves off. We are like a flashlight with the batteries removed or a sailboat where the wind has died. We still have the capacity to be all God created us to be - we have simply unplugged from the source of life that empowers us to do so.

So what are we to do? How can we live as we were created to? We can't. Without his love and life filling us - giving us a sense of meaning, purpose, and value - we can't live the way we were designed to. Only his love - the wind in our sails - can move us to live for him.

To be restored, someone else had to live that life for us - option 3 above - then offer to credit us with what they did. 

We also needed someone to pay our debt - restore what we damaged - for not treating others as they rightfully deserve - both God and our fellow image-bearers - i.e. treat them according to their true worth and dignity. Option 3 is the only way we can be restored back to God. We simply will not and cannot restore ourselves. The damage and harm we do and the debt we incur is greater than our ability to fix or repay it.

And option 3 could only be carried out by somebody who lived for God's honor and glory ²perfectly because we can not without the love and life - power/wind - of God stirring in us the desire to live for Him. 

To say it another way, we can not live for God without the life and love of God moving us to do so. And the love of God is not available to us until we are restored to God. We are stuck. We need someone outside us to take care of our problem. 

Thank God, he made the way!! He sent ²Christ to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. The only thing that remains for us to do is to believe He did everything necessary to restore us. It is up to us to accept his offer. Will you accept it?

For a further discussion on how the most valuable values us click here. 

For further discussions on our value click 

• Created for glory 
• Worthless, rotten sinners? 
• Does God value us? 

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¹We no longer experience our true value and dignity as intended because we are cut off from the only true source of it i.e. Our Creator.

²And how did Christ live/obey perfectly? By trusting the Father's love, wisdom, and power perfectly. The very same love, wisdom, and power we too, as a child of God in Christ, have available to us through the Holy Spirit given by grace - i.e. because of what Christ did to restore us back to the Father.

 

 

Diligent vs undiciplined

Though God's love is the ¹same for all believers new and old, a highly gifted and disciplined person who comes to Christ - e.g. Saul the Pharisee who became Paul - will accomplish more for the Kingdom than a ²highly disordered and undisciplined person. Diligence, discipline, organization, and structure matters. 

Christ's rejection of the Pharisees was not because of their discipline or standing, but because of their attitude towards their discipline and standing. They saw these as a means of salvation, i.e. salvation accomplished by them, not provided for them, and received as a gift.

Being disciplined or diligent in itself is not bad, but good. The question is why are we disciplined or diligent. Being disciplined and diligent always accomplishes more, not less. The issue is what drives our actions? What is our goal; what do we seek to accomplish through our discipline? Do we act to save ourselves or to honor God?

Feelings vs Faith

Waiting to feel motivated to work - e.g. I'll do it when it's convenient or when I feel like it - is undisciplined. It is acting according to our feelings that can be like a roller coaster. Beating your body into subjection is disciplined. It is acting in spite of feelings, in order to gain a good and better outcome. As the saying goes, no pain, no gain. 

Doing what must be done to succeed is necessary to accomplish a task and also a choice, not a feeling. It is an act of faith and often contrary to feelings. 

You must believe in the value and reward of discipline before you experience it. If we wait to feel like acting before we take action we may never act at all. Because we believe God honors diligence - and the outcome of diligence is better than being undisciplined - we take action. Faithful diligence always honors God over unfaithfulness. 

Obedience is rarely driven by feelings, but in spite of them, by faith. Because we trust God and believe the outcome of diligence is better than the outcome of being undisciplined, we take action. A key to discipline is staying on task - keeping our eye on the prize - and not being easily pulled off.

In saying this we must also understand that no amount of effort and diligence will guarantee a particular outcome. God must bless our efforts if we are to succeed, but they are our efforts nevertheless. God will not bless ³inactivity. The wind must drive a sailboat but the sails must be up for the wind to catch them i.e. our actions must be driven by the Love-Spirit of God, but believing and receiving his love is our choice. We must raise the sails of faith to catch the wind of the Spirit.

So what do we do when we have a task God has clearly called us to - such as loving our neighbors as ourselves - but don't feel like it? We pray and ask God to give us the grace and strength to do what he has set before us. We must believe God exists and faithfully rewards those who seek him. Then we move forward by faith in obedience just as Christ did after asking the father to remove the cup of suffering and said, “...not my will but yours be done.”

A key to discipline is staying on task and not being easily pulled off. To do so, we must keep our eye on the ball. What is the ball? God himself in all his majestic glory and ecstasy and our partaking of Him.

Those things that are hardest to do but most necessary are the things that require us to pray the hardest for grace and faith to do them. It is at these times we experience our greatest weakness - i.e. need to depend on God - but also discover our greatest strength in Him. 

Not feeling like doing something is not a reason to not act. The question is whether that something - our action - is honoring to God or not. If it is, we do it as an act of faith, not feelings.

For a further discussion on the importance of excellence click here. 

For a discussion on the value of competition click here

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¹God's love for his children is not determined by our abilities or efforts. He loves all His children infinitely, without conditions. The more gifted person may accomplish more, but God's reward is based on the direction of our hearts, not our *character qualities or skills. Because of this, the widow's mite was more honoring to God than the larger gifts. As a result, the widow received a greater reward. 

*Character quality and skills have to do with the amount of output or action not the motive behind them.

²One's gifts play a significant role as well. A gifted but undisciplined person is far less effective than a less gifted and diligent person.

³What about waiting on God? Where does it fit into this discussion? We wait on God when we don't know which direction God would have us go. We wait for his confirmation. 

When it is clear what action is most honoring to God there is nothing to wait for, we simply press forward in dependence on God to give us the grace and strength to achieve what we are called to. Those actions clearly prescribed by God do not require waiting but simply faithful obedience.

Victim vs offender

Some are more skeptical than others. Why?

Being skeptical, maybe even cynical, suggests a person doesn't trust anyone, possibly because of some ¹past trauma. However, that is just one explanation.

Distrust of others - including ourselves - can also be because of an awareness of man's brokenness, and not necessarily because of specific personal trauma. 

The reality is we are all traumatized (²broken) because we come into the world disconnected from the Source of life and love - i.e. our Creator - with whom we were designed to be in an unbroken love relationship with.  Absent this love, we are all in trauma (though many don't feel it because of being surrounded by so many blessings of life).

Our distrust of others may have more to do with a solid trust in God and what He tells us about humanity's rebellion and not because of mistreatment by someone else. 

This doesn't mean direct personal trauma doesn't exist, it means we look at it from a broader perspective - a bigger backdrop i.e. Personal trauma may not be the main reason we distrust mankind but our distrust is because of trust in God's assessment of man's fallen condition, i.e. a greater awareness of our own brokenness and agreement with God on the ²brokenness of humanity.

How broken are we?

The reality is unless moved by the love of God, mankind is all about taking what they need to maintain a sense of meaning, value, and purpose, apart from or outside of God versus deriving these from Him as the ultimate source of love, life, and all things. A healthy skepticism over our own brokenness and that of others can indicate maturity, not trauma.

Overemphasis on trauma actually plays into a "victim mindset" and may be the fruit of it. 

There is a common narrative being promoted that everybody is a victim of personal trauma. Our problems are always someone else's fault and not because of our individual choices to try and make life work without God.

While it is true we suffer ³harm at the hand of others - and some far more than others - we also cause harm to others i.e. we are all broken and not merely victims but also offenders. We are both victims and "villains" in varying degrees.

To focus on being a victim shifts us away from recognizing how we are an offender as well as offended. It shifts accountability away from us where it belongs, i.e. we can't fix others, we can only let God fix us. 

We have become so emotionally weak and fragile as a society that we have a hard time handling personal accountability and responsibility. The further we drift away from the source of love and life individually and as a society the more fragile we become - or maybe we should say the more obvious our brokenness becomes.

The reality is we are offenders long before we are offended. How so? Because we do not give God his due recognition as the Creator, Sustainer, and Source of life, love, and all things i.e. we have all offended God (objectively not personally. We need God, not the other way around) and live as if He doesn't matter. We all come into this world bent away from God. Christ would not have come otherwise i.e. this is exactly why he came; to restore us to himself.

For a further discussion on "playing" the victim click here

For a further discussion on how we are both offenders and offended click here

For a further discussion of the nature of our rebellion click here

For a further discussion on what drives good behavior click here and here 

For a discussion on how to overcome our brokenness click here 

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¹I do not intend to downplay trauma. For some, it is very significant and needs to be honestly looked at and addressed. What’s hidden from our awareness may potentially be influencing everyday perceptions, beliefs, and relationships. Bringing the hidden into the light of awareness is essential to healing and transformation. 

However, I would add we can not fully acknowledge our trauma until we know we are loved perfectly by our Creator. It is in knowing we are fully loved and accepted by our Creator, that we can be freed of the fear of rejection and able to let healing begin. This can not occur until we fully grasp the love and acceptance we have in Christ. The more we do, the more we are freed from demanding others love us. 

²By "broken" I mean we no longer operate as originally designed but in a very fractured condition. We were designed to partake in the life and love of almighty God Himself.  Because God is the source of these, this must begin with Him. But we reject God as the source and now operate contrary to Him and our design. We don't acknowledge Him as the most significant and vital of all beings and seek to find meaning, fulfillment outside of and apart from Him. We now seek purpose and meaning in anything but him.

We are meant to be full of love and life - i.e. God - and are now absent this - Him. The enormity of that which is missing - i.e. God Himself - determines the enormity of our brokenness. If God is the Source of all things, being absent Him means we are in the worst possible condition because God is the greatest of all. A great hole leaves a great void. This is a huge contrast to our original design. This is our greatest, deepest, and most hidden trauma - to us - above all others. It is the backdrop against which all other trauma occurs and can be properly understood. All other trauma is minuscule in comparison and would be of little consequence if this foundational trauma were remedied i.e. if we were fully restored to God. Offenses can only anchor into our hearts because of this primary trauma.

There is trauma we cause - i.e. experienced within - due to our willful rejection of God as the source of life and all things. And trauma caused by others i.e. from without. The latter occurs only because the former exists i.e. if we are fully restored to the Source of life, love, and all things, what others do or do not do are ultimately - i.e. eternally - of no negative consequence but can only advance us i.e. all things work for our good if we love God.

³However, it is not what we go through and experience that determines the outcome but how we respond to it. We can respond in faith believing we are loved by God in the midst of the struggle or believe we are abandoned by God. If we are in Christ, nothing can ever separate of from God's love.

The "what" and "why" of our actions

To know whether our behavior is God-honoring or not, we must distinguish between our actions and our ¹motive.

We could also call this the "what" and "why" of our actions; what we do and why do we do it.

All believers agree that prayer is good. Yet Christ said do not pray like the Pharisees pray. Why? Because they prayed for the wrong reason, i.e. to be seen of men.

There is not just right conduct (what) but also right motive (why). "Right" conduct can occur for the wrong reason e.g. we can do ⁴"good" things ⁵to gain the praise of others.

Often we think we act (the what) for good reasons (our why) when our actions (what) are designed to maintain our independence from God (our why).

In order for good motives (why) to lead to good conduct/deeds (what), those deeds must be guided by ²truth. We must therefore ³confide in God - our Creator/Designer - to know what good conduct truly is. Who would know better what is best for us, if not our Creator and Designer? We are told our overarching ²design or chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. In so doing, we find our greatest fulfillment and joy. 

The good news is right motive ultimately leads to right conduct e.g. When you love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength you will love your neighbor as yourselves. The later flows out of the former. When we are "plugged in" to God we become like him i.e. loving like God loves, as He designed us to.

The ordo salutis of good actions. 

For conduct to be good, the honor and glory of God must be our aim i.e. that which moves us to action; our motivation; the means and end of all we do.

The honor and glory of God will not be our aim until we understand the depth, height, and width of God's greatness and love for us.  

We will not see the depth and breadth of God's love until we understand what Christ did for us and why it was necessary. Understanding what Christ did tells us all we need to know about God and ourselves; His infinite love and our infinite need for it. 

We can never fully plumb the depths of the riches to be found in the work of Christ on our behalf. We must constantly explore it. This is why Paul prayed the following for the believers in Ephesus. 

Eph 3:14-21

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Conclusion

Awareness of the true motives behind our conduct only comes with time, humility, and maturity. It comes as we see what great lengths God went to, through Christ to restore us to Himself; it is "to know experientially the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge." 

 

For a discussion on how glorifying God is the basis for morality, click here.

For a discussion on the harm of living independent of God click here

For a discussion on what Christ did for us click here.

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¹Distinguishing actions from motive was the key underlying truth Christ communicated in the beatitudes and other passages... "You say if a man does (i.e. the what) ______ he is wrong,  But I say if a man in his heart (i.e. the why) does... it is wrong." 

²But how do we determine what is true and right conduct? Good-appropriate behavior is given to us by our Designer. Appropriate behavior is determined by our design and according to it i.e. God created things to operate a certain way. When they do, they operate according to what or who they are and were created to be;  i.e. according to reality, truth.

³The primary way we confide in God is studying his promises given in and through Christ in scripture i.e. His word(s) of promise.

⁴I put "good things" in quotes because we are told whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, do all of it to the glory of God. This implies we can do these same actions NOT for the glory of God. In fact, we usually do.

This also tells us the most mundane daily routines are not neutral but either are done for God's glory or not.

⁵It is not wrong to be praised by others. If we do something praiseworthy, praise is deserved. The issue is if our motive for doing it is the praise of men rather than the praise of God, it is wrong. 

Nor is desiring the praise of God wrong. This is not about earning God's acceptance. We already have that in Christ. This is whether we bring pleasure to God for our faithfully living to honor Him. Without faith (and therefore faithful obedience) it is impossible to please - i.e. bring pleasure to God. So the opposite is also true. To not faithfully pursue God brings him sadness. 

Faithfully pursuing God gives him joy and pleasure, not unlike the joy and pleasure we experience when we see our kids do well because of our instructions and direction. They live in a way that honors us as their parents. We don't love them more for this but we do have greater delight in them for it.