The illegitimacy rate in the black community, the ignorance and denial of historical facts surrounding the struggle for equality and those who assisted in making it a reality, the constant practice of identifying ourselves by what makes us different, the acceptance and promotion of stereotypes to appease a misguided sense of anger and the belief in questionable, if not false, subjects like global warming all find there origins in the denial of truth and the evil hearts of all mankind.
As I have said before there is only one truth on just about every subject. We cannot all be correct, but we can all be wrong. So it is with the subjects I have tried to discuss here. The fear, anger, denial of facts, promotion of error, lack of personal responsibility can all be traced back to what is inside each of us. For those who know me, it is no secret that when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, He not only restored the life of God to me, He also began to lead me into all truth. And the direction His revelations began to lead me in were not solely relegated to the realm of the Bible. One thing you begin to realize is how your eyes begin to open to everything around you. For me, I started realizing that traditions, beliefs, stereotypes and things I took for granted were not all I believed them to be. Not only were my beliefs about God changing, but so were my political, social and economic beliefs. Now, do I have total knowledge of everything? Of course not! Will I ever? No. However, the phrase, "takes one to know one" can be applied to my situation.
My friend, in many ways was just like me. Like her, I had based many of my opinions on two things; stereotypes and experiences. That is the quickest way in which to have rock solid opinions based on zero information. Like her, I claimed to be a Christian. While we never were able to break the discussion down to the topic of what she knew and believed about Jesus Christ, I would not be surprised if she was like I used to be. I was a churchgoer, who claimed to be a Christian, but whom defined my faith not through a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, but through the prism of my religious upbringing. They are not the same thing. I personally do not believe one stays in the dark, holding on to experiences, stereotypes and excuses, if they have had a saving encounter with Jesus. The Bible talks about taking up your cross daily. I believe that means that we will suffer loss on some level each day because of our faith in Him. That suffering can come in the form of what it is we have to discard from our past in order to be led by Him and to grow in our relationship with Him.
Ultimately, if we want to change the world, we have to start with ourselves. That must begin with a change of heart. And the only true change of heart comes when we realize that we are dead in sin and in need of the life of God through faith in Jesus Christ. I have heard it said that truth is whatever corresponds with reality. And Jesus Christ is Truth that, definitely corresponds with reality. Jesus, being God, will lead us into all truth so as to better understand and discern both spiritual and secular truths. "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate. Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know Him God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength (1 Corinthians 1:19-21,25)."
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