What is your creed? Part 1

“There lives more faith in honest doubt, believe me, than in half the creeds.” ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

“Whatever our creed, we feel that no good deed can by any possibility go unrewarded, no evil deed unpunished.” ~ Orison Swett Marden

“I Believe” -- Anonymous

* I believe that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

* I believe that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

* I believe that true friendship continues to grow even over the longest distances. The same goes for true love.

* I believe that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

* I believe that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

* I believe that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

* I believe that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

* I believe that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

* I believe that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take it's place.

* I believe that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

* I believe that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

* I believe that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

* I believe that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

* I believe that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

* I believe that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want him or her to doesn't mean they don't love you with all he or she has.

* I believe that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

* I believe that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

* I believe that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

* I believe that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

* I believe that you shouldn't be eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

* I believe that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

* I believe that your life can be changed, in a matter of hours, by people who don't even know you.

* I believe that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

* I believe that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

* I believe that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.


Last summer I read this posted on the wall of a sandwich shop in Watertown, WI while eating my lunch. The most ironic thing is that while I was reading this the PA system was blaring “Sympathy for the Devil” by the Rolling Stones. I would be surprised if most would not agree with the sentiments of the words expressed, but I couldn’t stop thinking about them later that evening and thought that they fell a little short of being truly deep, meaningful or of lasting value.

We all believe in something. The word “creed” comes from the Latin word credo and means to believe, to trust, a set of fundamental beliefs or guiding principles. At my alma mater we would recite “The Creed” before each chapel service. At first it was inspiring and encouraging to hear 5,000 people in unison expressing their verbal commitment to a shared belief. But as time went on it became rote and robotic and even I felt like they were just words that I needed to get out of the way before we could get on with my day.

I believe there are two key questions we need to ask ourselves; first is there a God? It is the ultimate and unavoidable question because how you answer that question determines your fundamental beliefs and becomes the guiding principle for how you live your life. You may try to deny it but everyone makes a choice on this question either consciously or unconsciously.

Once you have answered that question you move on to the second life changing question. If there is a God what does He expect of me? Our view of God and the answer to that question again forms the guiding principles on how we chose to live our lives. If we have gone as far as accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior what then? Have we spent any time pursuing God to better grasp His nature?

Malachi 3:6a “For I am the LORD, I change not…”

So what do you believe? What is your Creed?