Believing is Not Enough

by Andrew Cromwell

There is a whole class of products on the market that we buy because we know they work, but we don’t actually use them. These products end up in the corner of the room with clothes hanging on them or in the garage covered in boxes. There’s always a few at every garage sale. For the most part they are “lightly used” or “like new” but they are priced to sell!

You know what I’m talking about: exercise equipment.

We love exercise equipment! Treadmills, weight benches, pull up bars, thigh masters, shake weights, rowing machines, and bikes—almost every one of us has bought either a piece of equipment, a DVD, a program, or an app to help us lose weight and get healthy.

And we know that if we used them regularly, they would work. Sure, we may never look quite like the chiseled models that star in the commercial that originally sold us, but with regular use we would lose weight and get stronger.

The problem is not with our beliefs about exercise equipment. The problem is we don’t use it.

Even more frustrating is that it doesn’t even matter how bad our attitude is about the whole thing. As a matter of fact, even if we don’t believe that working out does any good, it doesn’t matter—because it just works.

Doing trumps believing.

Don’t get me wrong, believing is important. Having the right beliefs is critical in life. But we can have all of our beliefs right and still be out of shape, overweight, and weak. Some have even studied the science of eating right and working out, but they are no healthier than the rest. Because head knowledge doesn’t make the difference. Doing does.

This isn’t only true about working out. It’s true about spiritual things too.

We know it is better to forgive than to hold onto bitterness and resentment. We know unforgiveness poisons our soul and limits our ability to enjoy life to its fullest. But we don’t forgive. We know speaking the truth is better, and lies, even the white ones, create a false reality that results in us living a facade. But we keep on lying. And we know we need to get serious about our spiritual life (because in our hearts we know there is life after death), but we just keep ignoring it.

James, Jesus’ brother, writes that if we know what we should be doing but we don’t do it, we are just deceiving ourselves. In other words, we are living a lie.

The solution is simple. It may not be easy, but it is simple. We must start doing, not just believing. We have to start making changes, even small ones if we want to live honestly and wholeheartedly. 

So where in your life do you need to start doing rather than just believing? What is one thing you can do today, to start living fully?