WHO IS GOD?HOW DO WE COME TO KNOW GOD IS REAL?
HOPE - BELIEF - KNOWLEDGE
PART 2 of Our Story
In Part 1 of the story of our relationship with God we told you how we starting asking questions about our beliefs in God. Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were teaching us. We knew we needed to find out some things for ourselves.
We started with very basic questions. What were our existing beliefs in God and how did we come to those conclusions? Is there a God? If there is - What’s He like? What does He teach? Where do we find Him? How do we become more like Him and do what He would do? Does God connect with individuals?
Many people have feelings and opinions about God but deep discussion reveals that the opinion is based on hope or belief but not study, answer to prayer, or even knowledge.
Hope is a good place to start. It is often replaced with belief. Personal knowledge is the next step.
There is a significant difference between “believing” God is real and “knowing” God lives. Believing implies acceptance. And that is a good thing. First hand knowledge is a step further – it implies having personal experience or information that validates what we previously believed.
Personal knowledge of God does not come simply because someone tells us He is real. A religious expert, pastor, scholar, missionary, friend, or family member might tell us God is real. Belief and hope might come from the words of such people, especially if we trust the person. If we base our belief and hope on a person, what happens if that expert or friend or family member loses his faith or says he no longer believes what he told us earlier? What happens if the person’s behavior isn’t in line with his stated beliefs? What if some other expert unearths different information? In addition, belief and hope, if not based on first hand knowledge, may not be enough to get us through the challenges that come along with life on earth.
To move beyond belief and hope to first hand knowledge, we have to have a desire to know for ourselves. And that takes consistent effort.
Prayer and scripture study are places to start. Tuning into impressions from the Holy Ghost is another important aspect of determining the reality of God.
Our experiences have been such that we know without a shadow of a doubt that God is real. He knows us individually, He loves us, and He is a very caring Father.
Joe & Julia Todd
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