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Some people have asked me if I could be wrong about my convictions about God and the Bible. Fair question. While there are many detailed reasons why I believe Jesus is God and the Bible is His Word, here is one simple way to look at it.
I could also be wrong about my wife's love for me. The last 13 years of marriage could have been a hoax. All the love and affection Chelsea has shown me, her devotion to my needs and wishes, and even all the self sacrificing service she's shown me in the name of her love for me could all be a deception. For thirteen years she's lived with me, raised my children, stood by my side in good times and in bad, comforted me when I've been sick, picked me up when I've been depressed, and defended my character at the risk of her own reputation.
In fact, I am so convinced that my wife's love for me is genuine that I would take all my money and put it into her own separate account without any ability to ever get it back. I would also sign an agreement giving her all my future earnings for the rest of my life. And I would trust her implicitly with the safety and well being of all my children. That's how much I believe her love for me is true.
But... I could be wrong. She could be lying. Imagine if I went home and said, "Honey I think you're a liar. A fraud... and I told the kids you're a liar and you don't really love me, and your love letters to me were all self-serving." Yes, I could decide that the last 13 years could have been nothing more than a scam and a secret deception.
But for me to believe that would be both irrational and despicable.
Irrational because everything she has done has demonstrated her faithfulness to me. There is no evidence that she has ever deceived me, but rather, all the evidence indicates that her love has been sincere. She's never shown me anything that would cause me to doubt her love for me. So for me to say she's lying would be totally nuts. I'd have to have mental problems or be under some form of severe paranoia before I could come to that conclusion.
More than that, in light of my wife's continual life of loving me and sacrificing for me... for me to imply that she is a fraud, would be a despicable betrayal. If I did that, it would actually prove that I was the imposter -- the fake. My so-called "love" for her would not be love at all. It would be nothing but self-serving, self-preserving, paranoia injuring her at great expense in light of what she's invested in me.
It is just simple logic that when I look back over our experiences together for the last 13 years, I have no choice but to be convinced that she is incredibly loving and loyal, and worthy of my complete devotion.
The same is true with God. In light of the last 14 years of walking with God, I have known what it is to hear His voice as it bears witness with my spirit through the Word. After experiencing His power to change my heart, and after all He's invested in me, I cannot turn my back on Him. In fact there is one thing that I can never forget, one thing that puts my love for Him into overdrive! He proved His love for me by dying on the cross. To doubt His love after such a demonstration of it would be both deplorable and irrational. On the contrary, I am convinced that God and His Word are worthy of my complete devotion.
Some people have asked me if I could be wrong about my convictions about God and the Bible. Fair question. While there are many detailed reasons why I believe Jesus is God and the Bible is His Word, here is one simple way to look at it.
I could also be wrong about my wife's love for me. The last 13 years of marriage could have been a hoax. All the love and affection Chelsea has shown me, her devotion to my needs and wishes, and even all the self sacrificing service she's shown me in the name of her love for me could all be a deception. For thirteen years she's lived with me, raised my children, stood by my side in good times and in bad, comforted me when I've been sick, picked me up when I've been depressed, and defended my character at the risk of her own reputation.
In fact, I am so convinced that my wife's love for me is genuine that I would take all my money and put it into her own separate account without any ability to ever get it back. I would also sign an agreement giving her all my future earnings for the rest of my life. And I would trust her implicitly with the safety and well being of all my children. That's how much I believe her love for me is true.
But... I could be wrong. She could be lying. Imagine if I went home and said, "Honey I think you're a liar. A fraud... and I told the kids you're a liar and you don't really love me, and your love letters to me were all self-serving." Yes, I could decide that the last 13 years could have been nothing more than a scam and a secret deception.
But for me to believe that would be both irrational and despicable.
Irrational because everything she has done has demonstrated her faithfulness to me. There is no evidence that she has ever deceived me, but rather, all the evidence indicates that her love has been sincere. She's never shown me anything that would cause me to doubt her love for me. So for me to say she's lying would be totally nuts. I'd have to have mental problems or be under some form of severe paranoia before I could come to that conclusion.
More than that, in light of my wife's continual life of loving me and sacrificing for me... for me to imply that she is a fraud, would be a despicable betrayal. If I did that, it would actually prove that I was the imposter -- the fake. My so-called "love" for her would not be love at all. It would be nothing but self-serving, self-preserving, paranoia injuring her at great expense in light of what she's invested in me.
It is just simple logic that when I look back over our experiences together for the last 13 years, I have no choice but to be convinced that she is incredibly loving and loyal, and worthy of my complete devotion.
The same is true with God. In light of the last 14 years of walking with God, I have known what it is to hear His voice as it bears witness with my spirit through the Word. After experiencing His power to change my heart, and after all He's invested in me, I cannot turn my back on Him. In fact there is one thing that I can never forget, one thing that puts my love for Him into overdrive! He proved His love for me by dying on the cross. To doubt His love after such a demonstration of it would be both deplorable and irrational. On the contrary, I am convinced that God and His Word are worthy of my complete devotion.
