I Believe

This I Believe. This I Believe. What do I believe? What are my values? What do I stand for? What do I believe? This question has been plaguing our country. What do we believe? Do we believe all the cliche things? Do we have personal beliefs? Do we love all the self-help books? Do we go with the flow, not knowing what it is we truly believe? Do we take time to understand things? Do we have no beliefs? What do we believe? I believe in love. I believe love is real, and love is true. But, I believe human love is terrible. I've loved people, called them by best friends, and they hurt me. They left me. They didn't care. I can love people with all my heart, and I'll always get hurt. Friends grow apart, marriages fail, siblings become rivals. Love can hurt. If love hurts so much, why do I love at all? Why do I do it? Because God commands me. God's love never fails. God can never leave me, never hurt me. He always cares. His heart breaks with mine, I am righteously angry with Him. He shows me love and admiration, He loves me so much more than anyone ever can, ever will. God sent His Son to die for me. Blood and tears flowing, mingled down with love. God loves me, so I love Him. And, if I love Him then I want to do what He says. His Word says to show the love of Christ. That's why I love. I love because He first loved me. I love to show you how much more He could love You. I believe in family. I have 2 sisters, 2 brothers, 2 parents, and a dog. And, I don't know what I would do without them. I love them so much. They support me when I'm falling, help me when I'm failing, push me when I'm stagnant. My family is so much more than people who happen to live together. So much more than siblings to pick on. So much more than parents to give me gifts and money. We are an unbreakable force. Yes, we fight. Yes, we have a shouting problem. Yes, sometimes we just want to be by ourselves. But, you know what? We will always be a family. I will always love Momma, and Daddy, and Samuel, and Gracie, and Gideon, and Piper. And, they will always love me. We play games together and talk together, and we laugh together. Oh, there is so much laughter in my little 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house. I don't think I could continue on without the laughter that resides in my house. In my heart. I believe in hope. I read in a book(called Daring to Hope) that hope is a daring seed we plant in our hearts. Hope is something that I believe lives inside us. It seems foolish, silly, childish. But, hope is something that we can't live without. I have hope that Jesus is coming again, one day, with angels at His shoulders. I have hope that one day, every tribe and tongue and nation will have a chance to hear the Gospel. I have hope in hope. That hope is what unites us. That hope is what brings people together. That hope is what changes lives, opens eyes, and softens hearts. Hope is a force that, while it may waver, will never be destroyed. As long as a copy of the Bible, even a chapter of the Bible is still on this Earth, hope will never fade away. I believe in the power of words. I believe that my words can bring change. They can enlighten people, change people, open eyes, expose the truth. Here's a quote from Albus Dumbledore, "Words are, in my not so humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic." Isn't that true? Dumbledore goes on to say that words have to power to both inflict and remedy pain. My words can tear down walls or build them. My words can crush or create. My words can hurt or heal. If I believe in the power of words, then I must choose to use them wisely. I must choose to help people. I must choose the truth. I believe in the power of actions. How am I to tell someone of God's love if I don't first show them? How am I to tell someone how to live if I don't first live it? How am I to tell someone to have hope if I don't live my life with hope? How am I to show the Gospel to others if I don't live it out in my life? How do I tell someone to read the Bible without reading it? How do I tell people to pray without first praying? How do I be the light before first turning on the switch? How am I to be the salt before first filling the shaker? My actions must reflect what I believe. I believe in the power of nature. No, I don’t worship nature or Mother Earth, or the Creation rather than the Creator. But, I do believe everyone can benefit from spending time in nature. Just today, we visited our pasture. We’ll be moving there soon. We’re beginning to mow, and we’ve made swings and a fire pit. Today, my sister Piper asked if we could make her a “Barbie Garden.” I cleared the leaves and grass, and we transplanted songs plants, and my mom made a tiny fence out of stakes. I loved it so much that I decided to mow an area for a real garden, and I already asked my dad for a tiller and a wheelbarrow. The dirt was cool and soft, and the plants were so beautiful. God created the Earth for us to enjoy and take care of. And I can worship Him while I work the land. While I was mowing, I was belting the lyrics to I’ll Fly Away at the top of my lungs. The mower was so loud that I wasn’t too shy to sing. I can learn how to care for the land that God has entrusted me with, and I can even worship Him while doing it. Working on the farm has also taught my siblings to work hard, and they enjoy working. I am so glad that they enjoy and can benefit from their work. I believe everyone should understand things. So many times, we see things on the internet and we believe it, while we don’t understand what we believe. I take time to research things, and I don’t like it when people say things or listen to things without fully understanding the situation. My mom has helped my greatly in this situation, as she spends many nights. I believe in God. This may be a bit obvious since all of my papers except one have had God in them. But, this is about what I believe, so I'm going to add it. I believe in God. Not a supernatural being, not a guardian angel, not some far off deity. I believe in God. I believe in the God who created the universe with only His voice. I believe in the God who promised a Messiah. I believe in the God who made a covenant with the Israelites. I believe in the God who became flesh for us. I believe in the God who performed miracles. I believe in the God who raised people from the dead. I believe in the God who was betrayed by a friend. I believe in the God who was proven innocent, yet exchanged for a murderer. I believe in the God who was beaten and tortured. I believe in the God who dies the most gruesome death you can imagine. I believe in the God who tore the veil between man and God. I believe in the God who was dead for three days. I believe in the God who rose from the dead, with our victory in hand. I believe in the God who conquered death and saved us from our sins. I believe in the God who answers my prayers and is with me every day. I believe in the God who holds my hand as we walk through this world, together. I believe in the God who is coming again to make this world new. I believe in the God who will one day make everything right. This I believe.