Religion designed to reflect one’s personal desire contrary to having a personal relationship with God

Published 8:23 am Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Dear Rev. Graham: How can it be bad to have a religion that incorporates all the good parts of many religions as long as we worship God? — D.R.

Dear D.R.: Society reflects the culture’s craving for a designer world, one that suits every whim. We want things our way: designer clothes, designer technology, designer homes and cars, even designer religion.
In the era of social media, people are free in sharing their innermost thoughts. A young lady posted in a blog that as she searched for truth and realized that the only life she belonged to was her own, saying, “I set about creating [a life] for myself… custom-built for me. And I fit perfectly in it.” Another woman wrote that she believed in people, no matter their religion, who do good wherever they are.
If they are honest, they will one day post what King Solomon wrote: “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure…. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done… everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, NIV).
“Whatever” has become a mantra for many, a trendy approach to a religion of belonging to “self.” A Harvard psychologist once said, “We’re becoming a nation of the uncommitted.”
A religion designed to reflect one’s personal desire is contrary to having a personal relationship with God, who puts within His true follower His desires. Professing faith in Christ is clearly not the same as possessing Christ, who is the source of faith. Faith in the one true God will manifest itself in three ways: doctrine (what we believe), worship (our communion with God), and morality (how we live and behave).
Believe in Jesus Christ and obey His Word. This is living out true faith.
—————
(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox