Being Firm in Your Convictions Comes with a Price
Refer to Step 11: I make a commitment to nurture my relationship with the Lord, asking Him to reveal His will to me and to provide me with the power to carry it out.
Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace. It is so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.
—Martin Luther
A while ago in Cheshire, England, two twelve-year-old schoolboys were disciplined for “refusing to pray to Allah” as part of their school’s religious education program. A spokesman for the county council said, “Educating children in the beliefs of different faiths is part of Cheshire’s diversity curriculum.”
Because of separation of church and state, this scenario couldn’t be replicated in the America—not exactly. But the mindset of accepting all religious systems as equally valid is a fundamental belief of American political correctness. Although most churches would repudiate this based on their doctrine, it’s the de facto belief system for most Christians as well.
In an attempt to be acceptable to everyone, Christians have watered-down Christ’s teachings, attempting to remove exclusivity from His message. If you think this is an exaggeration, just ask any young Christian under twenty-five if Christ is the only way to God. Three-out-of-four will either hedge or deny it out-rightly. Christianity isn’t loosing the cultural war; it has already been lost.
Our churches are filled with weak, materialistic, sappy people—not robust men and women—not those who refuse to bend their knees to anyone other than the Lord. In our watered-down version of cultural Christianity, which is espoused in many denominations, God’s blessings are equated to materialism and not to the rich character qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, and kindness. If you are prosperous, God is blessing you. If you aren’t, your life has fallen short of the mark.
When the two English boys made a stand for what they believed, they paid a price, but their defiance also made news worldwide.
Remember, fidelity may cost you everything; but without it, you don’t have anything of value anyway. These kids made a stand for something important. Do you think you could do the same thing?
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their own bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. (Daniel 3:28)
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