1 Peter 3:15 (NIV): “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”
Lots of people disagree with me. I believe things that others simply do not:
- I believe that every person is born with the sex that God gave you so that identifying as something else goes against how God created you.
- I believe that marriage is between one biological man and one biological woman, ideally between two virgins, for life, which rules out any sexual activity outside of that definition.
- I believe that human life begins at conception and is sacred and therefore should be protected.
- I believe that God created the universe and that there was a world-wide flood approximately 5,000 years ago that explains the current geography of our planet.
See? I have probably listed things that even you may disagree with!
I want you to know that everything that I believe has its foundation on the fact that I love Jesus and embrace truth as found in the Bible. Our culture is now following a world view that is anti-God. Everywhere I look it seems that Biblical truth is being attacked, and that even Christians are falling prey to views that are inconsistent with His word.
The truths I believe give me hope. So… how should I respond when others disagree?
Well, according to the verse above from Peter, I need to be prepared to give answers.. I cannot be lazy. I need to know why I believe what I believe. I cannot just give simple responses but I need to provide well thought out responses. Through it all, as I respond to those who ask me, I need to respond with “gentleness and respect.”
I realize that most people in the world do not agree with me on one or more of the four things that I’ve listed above. It is my hope, though, that as I share with others and love them with the same love that Jesus has loved me, that they can decide to follow Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That is the main thing.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I embrace You as Creator, as Life-Giver, as the One who instituted marriage. Most important, I embrace Your Son as my Lord and Savior. As I give answers to those who ask, may I do so with gentleness and respect.
