October 2025

Last month I touched on belonging to the body of Christ. To continue with the next B, we must discuss believing.

Unfortunately, every time I start a sentence with “do you believe” my brain starts singing the song by Cher. Neither helpful nor very theological. Especially as someone who believes so deeply in the steadfast and unending love of God. There is no life after love because God’s love never ends.

But asking what it means to believe is another story. You can feel it deep in your gut, you can logic your way to it, you can be overwhelmed by the emotions related to it… but to believe in something? What does that take?

Good question. Not sure if I have a single, good, clear answer. It does seem to me as if believing is tied to faith. And to have faith can be understood as living as if God’s promises have, are, and will come true. It means trusting in God’s promises as real.

An example of this might be in regard to the promises about the Holy Spirit. The incarnate Christ promised the disciples that someone was coming to be with them. To guide, to lead, to show them how to continue on in the way. Do you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit? Do you have to see or feel that presence to know it is real? We’re supposed to believe without proof. Huh. Tricky stuff. Trusting in God does come with prior knowledge and evidence that God’s love, presence, and salvation are real. So does believing ask us to continue to trust in God no matter what happens? For now at least, I think so.