Forget Everything You've Been Taught!

Okay, so maybe forgetting everything is a little extreme. However, it is beneficial to take some time and ask ourselves, "Why do I believe what I think I believe?" Is it because it's what my parents told me, my school teacher, my pastor?

As I continue my personal walk of faith, I come to realize more and more each day, that my worldview has been shaped largely by what is acceptable in modern culture and steeped in traditions, whether they be family, cultural or religious in nature.

In Colossians 2:8, the apostle Paul issues a warning, telling us to "Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

For thousands of years, mankind has taken the pure and perfect truth of God's Word, and added to or removed from it. Men have revised and twisted the truth to serve their own purposes, and not to teach the truth of faith in the Messiah. Don't believe me? Just try to count how many different denominations of Christianity alone there are these days. So which one has the truth? or the most truth at least?

The answer is - IT DOESN'T MATTER! 2 Timothy 2:15 says "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

So as far as I can tell, the responsibility for seeking the truth of God's Word falls squarely on me. We are each to study to show ourselves approved unto God. It takes work, it's not a leisurely task. It's not checking a box off of our daily devotional list. It's about truly seeking the Lord with our whole heart. When we stand before Him, we will not be able to claim ignorance because our parents, or our pastor, or our Bible study group leader taught us incorrectly. Now that does not mean that we should not surround ourselves with sound Biblical teachers, but it does mean we have some work to do for ourselves. It's time to dig deeper, and not be satisfied with a shallow, uninformed faith.