The importance of believing in God
A review of what belief in God gives, compared with the alternative that secularism can offer. If God is not real, how do we manage without what God has offered? Can we compare the two offers?
(In 5 parts)
The importance of believing in God
Part 1: God gives us everything that we need, want or could hope for.
Believing in God provides me with a complete psychological package to live life to the full.
It creates a framework in which to live my life. I have been loved by God since before the creation of the universe. He is the creator, and, no matter how big or how long extended in time, the universe is just something that God can hold in the palm of his hand. He can switch it on and off and he is neither enhanced nor diminished in doing so. When I come to the end of this mortal life and die, that is just the start of my eternal life with God in heaven. This means that I am free to devote myself whole-heartedly to living every day, without fearing that my life might be taken away from me, without regretting that I am using it up, with no fear of the inevitability of death – it is just a door to even greater joy, in communion with God. So, God holds the beginning and end of my life which means I have no unanswered questions about my origin and my destination.
While I live this life, I am free to do so with complete peace of mind and assurance of a good outcome, because God is with me. Nothing can ever separate me from his presence, and his love for me is unfailing. God watches over me and gives me the guidance and strength I need to live my life successfully. He fills my life with good gifts and promises me his blessing. I live in relationship with him and can communicate with him whenever I want.
God is not like a fairy godmother who waves her magic wand to make everything perfect. I do not expect God to guarantee me success or to ensure that everything in my life goes smoothly, with all hardships instantly smoothed away. Instead, my belief in him is completely compatible with the challenges, joys and tragedies of living in a physical world. Even when I suffer, I am still held in his love. However, he does guarantee to me that I am never alone, and he guarantees that the final triumph of goodness, truth and love is assured. He guarantees that he will always provide me with the strength and guidance I need to bring me through all trials, and he assures me that he will bring me safe home. If the chances and trials of life mean that I should die prematurely, unjustly, horribly suffering, this does not mean that my life is in vain or that God has failed me. It just means that, in the mystery of his grace, I have gone to meet him sooner than I had expected.
Believing in God gives me a code to live by that encourages me to be loving, kind, forgiving, compassionate. He helps me to reduce the influence of my weaknesses and to grow in grace. When my folly, weakness and selfishness mean that I betray my code and my faith, he gives a way to redeem that and to keep on in my journey of life with him. If I mess up, he reassures me that he will forgive me, be at work to put things right, and help me to amend my life. He reassures me that the true riches of life can never be taken from me; I cannot be tricked or duped out of what is most precious, because God’s love is the most precious of all, and I can never lose him. Even if I should go terribly wrong, I believe that God will be at work to redeem me.
I believe that you can see that this is, indeed, a complete package. It allows me to live in the present moment to the full, while being intimately connected to my own life-story and the life story of the whole of creation. It allows me to keep living life to the full, looking forwards, giving and receiving, until the very last moment, when my life comes to an end; I close my eyes and open them again to see God.
Now, we turn to the big “fly in the ointment”: what if it’s not true? What if there is no God, and so all these wonderful things that belief in him provides me with are simply illusions? What if it’s a nice fantasy, but a fantasy, nonetheless?
You can see why I am extremely loath to give up belief in God, but neither do I want to believe in a fantasy, just because that fantasy makes me feel good.
Firstly, let’s see if there is any alternative to these beliefs that is valid.
Spiritual Devotion 