As I was reading the scripture Romans 8:26-39, I began to think about how we make statements of our faith…or whether we do. I know that for the majority of my life, I did not tell people that I am a Christian. I did not tell them what that meant to me. I didn’t think too much about it. Did I believe? Yes, of course. Was I a good example to other people of who Christ was, is, and continues to be? There I stumbled drastically. I have been a decent person. I have been a moral person, most of the time, and I have tried to be an ethical person. At least these things are true in my own opinion, and of course, I am terribly biased.
But that is much different from being a person who is able to stand before the world and say, “I believe.”
Listen to Paul’s statement of faith…for all of us:
“38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” NIV
That is a strong statement of faith. I have read the statement in five other translations of the Bible, and that statement is just as strong as in the above. To lessen the power of the statement would be to do a disservice to Paul. Paul was a better speaker and writer than most of us will ever be. He also has the ability to argue like a lawyer.
Most of us do not have those skills. But we do have the ability to recite the “creed” with meaning instead of mumbling. We have the ability to say in one way or another, “I believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Nothing is going to strip me of that belief…no matter what happens in my life, I do believe. I do put God and Jesus as the priority in my life. They are at the top of my list of priorities where they need to be. Nothing is going to change that in my life ever again.” And this is my Statement of Faith.
Keep the Faith,
Carol
