Why, in the Bible, God speaks to many people and it’s all written about, but for the last 2000 years we do not have any new examples? Well there are some religions that have had some more recent prophets like Islam and Mormon churches, but the mainstream American Christian churches haven’t had anyone new since the New Testament. Does that mean that God has decided to shut up and leave us to fend for ourselves and that our only recourse is to go to church and hear about what happened 2000+ years ago?
I would argue that God never left any of us. God is still in each and every person and communicates with all of us on a daily basis. Any time you have that gut feeling that you should try something new outside of your comfort zone, it is God telling you that you can do it. When you feel that drive inside to help someone out in a time of need, that is God’s influence.
You see, feelings and emotions are the backbone of communication. Words are just a tool. I would argue a very primitive tool at that. Anyone who is well versed in advanced maths would even argue that numbers can convey a lot more information than words can. You can’t create an electrical circuit by describing it with words to someone, you need numbers and pictures mostly. Where did the saying a picture is worth a thousand words come from? Because a picture can display the emotion of the scene the way words just could not. So, when God speaks to us, wouldn’t it make sense to do it at a very deep and emotional level inside of us? It’s all just a matter of recognizing it and listening.
All of this is good news isn’t it? Well, now for the bad news.
The devil also talks to all of us in the same way. Not in the stereotypical evil temptation sort of way though. He likes to spread self-doubt. You see this is the very basic emotion that all evil actions are based off. If he can get you to doubt yourself, you are less likely to follow through on whatever it is you are meant to do. Self-doubt steals your potential and leads to underachievement and takes many of life’s opportunities away from you. If you are unsure of yourself, you look to others to compare yourself to instead of just moving forward with your own life actions. This leads to judgment with either an outcome of pride, envy, or both.
Pride makes you think you are better than others and therefore less compassionate to them. Envy makes you jealous of what others have that you don’t have. If you end up with both pride and envy, then you start to think that you are entitled to what other people have. Can you see where this may lead to crime, war, discrimination, hate, etc.?
Now if you were able to completely block out the devil and only hear the message of God telling you to believe in yourself, what would that lead to? Well, it would lead to humility, a willingness to learn from everyone you meet in an effort to improve yourself and reach your true potential. You would have the heart of a teacher and be ready to teach anyone that would listen about anything that you know. You would have a confidence that you can accomplish anything you put your mind to and a patience to see it through all of the obstacles. You would have the compassion to help people in need along the way and an understanding of what people that are struggling with self-doubt are going through. Since all evil routes from self-doubt, and we all struggle with self-doubt, you can be forgiving to someone who harms you since you know where they are coming from. They are just not winning that struggle the way you are at the moment.
So, if you believe all that I have said so far, how can you best help your fellow mankind? Help them believe in themselves. For different people, this will require different actions. For one, it may require teaching them new skills. For another, it may be tough love and calling out all of their excuses. For others, they may need to be left alone to hit bottom and let their survival instincts kick in to motivate them.
The most important thing is that you don’t allow helping others to become your own crutch for not moving forward and achieving your own potential. For this kind of self-doubt surrender hurts also. You will be able to help way more people if you are successful than not.
