Theology - (n) the study of the nature of God | Does It Really Matter?

"To study theology is to get to know God in order that we may glorify Him through our love and obedience. Notice the progression here: we must get to know Him before we can love Him, and we must love Him before we can desire to obey Him...The world is a painful place, and life in it is disappointing and unpleasant. Reject theology and you doom yourself to life with no sense of direction. Without theology, we waste our lives and lose our souls." 

I have spent the majority of my years in a battle. Not a typical battle. This battle was ME against ME. For as long as I can remember, I was taught in church and at home how important it was to live a life pleasing to God.

Don't cuss.
Don't drink.
Don't have sex outside of marriage.
Don't … Don't … Don't.

Do say things like "gosh darn" and "jiminy crickets."
Do drink virgin daiquiris to set an example (why do we call them that anyway?).
Do save yourself for marriage.

Here's the problem with this list. I could NEVER keep all the rules. Every single one of them, and then some, I broke….head on, in full rebellion. I knew how to get away with what I really wanted to do. And I was a pro at manipulation. It was a vicious cycle of… "Oh crap, I screwed up again. Well, God isn't pleased so might as well dig in a little deeper and enjoy this season of sin." Then I'd go to Disciple Now or Winter Jam and rededicate my life for the 20th time that year and set out to do better. I could grit my teeth and make it through a few months practicing all these behavior modifications: the do's, the don'ts, this is what a Christian looks like, these are places Christians go, these are books Christians read. But they always left me empty, feeling as if I didn't measure up, prepared for the next fall… and then would come the guilt, the disappointment, the sorrow. And I'd once again try and climb out of the pit I'd found myself in, hoping I could clean myself up enough to stand before God. Again.

My behavior was not the heart of the problem, the problem was the problem of my heart. And this is where Theology comes in. A.Z. Tozer says it best when he quoted: "The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of 10,000 temporal problems…" Many people scoff at doctrines and theology, summing it up as pointless rubbish that does nothing more than confuse people. They ask, "Why does it matter anyway? If you believe in Jesus, what more do you need to know?" I beg to differ… and here's why.

1- It gives you a starting point.
If you do not know what you are being saved from, you can never appreciate what you are being saved into. You'll never know the need for Grace.The Bible teaches that as a result of the fall of man (Genesis 3:6) every part of man—his mind, will, emotions and flesh—have been corrupted by sin. In other words, sin affects all areas of our being including who we are and what we do. It penetrates to the very core of our being so that everything is tainted by sin and “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” before a holy God (Isaiah 64:6). We sin because we are sinners by nature. Or, as Jesus says, “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-18)." This would definitely explain why no matter how often I tried, I failed miserable at being "good", desiring the things of the Lord and having confidence in my faith. I didn't have the ability. I needed a heart transplant.

2- It causes striving to cease. 
We are totally incapable of fixing the problem of our hearts. We can't force them to obey. We can't coerce them into submission. We don't possess the power to resurrect that which is dead in sin. We need an outside force. In Ezekiel 36:25-36, the Lord says, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." Take a look at that verse… how much "work" are you doing in this process? The Lord has called you His; He will give you a heart to follow. You see, if He wasn't the One initiating, we'd never be able to follow through. He follows this heart transplant with a deposit for us as well in verse 27, "I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules." Can you see what REST you find when this truth settles in your heart? No more to-do-list's. No more guilt and shame over failed attempts. We simply rest in this, "for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose." (Philippians 2:14) This overwhelmingly powerful truth changed my relationship with the Lord immensely. It allowed me to, for the first time in my life, “Be still, and know that [He is] God."

3- It allows you to see God for who He is: Sovereign.  
For quite a while, I believed that it was I who chose the Lord. I decided whether I wanted to be His. I chose my destiny, and it was all up to me to choose the "right" way. But there was only one problem with this idea, the Bible. As I dug into the Word, I began to see a pattern of God consistently choosing people based on nothing other than His love for them. In Ephesians 1:4-5, we read it best, " For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will…" I also noticed many places where God was sure to let me know that it was not my choice for salvation, but His alone. We find it in John 15:16, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…". There are many more Scriptures, but you get the gist. These truths definitely had my mind spinning. It took the power away from me. I wasn't in as much control as I thought I was. For so long, I had picked myself up off the ground…I had followed the to-do-list…I had decided when and how I want to follow Him… It seems to me He was working behind the scenes all along. God isn't sitting back twiddling his thumbs, hoping that those He has chosen from before the foundations of the earth will come. No. He says, "Come" ...and Danielle is coming. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:27-29).

4- You read the Bible…correctly.
The Bible is to be read as one big story. Not a story about us, not an instruction manual before leaving earth…it's a story about Jesus. We are just finding ourselves along the way, to be part of HIS story. Yes, you will find guidance for your life in that Book. Sure, you will get encouragement, advice and all of those good things. But it's so much more than that! Notice the pattern: man fails, God gives a promise and then silence… man is left with nothing more than a promise. Out of silence, you see God step in, call His people, redeem them and then tell them, "Now that you are redeemed, this is how I want you to live." That's a very different viewpoint than what I had growing up, where you were sure to dot your I's and cross your T's… because THIS is the person God loves. No! God loves us "while we were still yet sinners," before the foundation of the earth, not based on anything we can offer. The fact that I've already been accepted, flaws and all, gives me the confidence to live as God tells me to. I don't obey to be accepted. I'm accepted, therefore I obey. It seems like a small, insignificant detail…but it is everything. 

There are many more reasons I could give as to why doctrine and Theology are so important to me, but we can get in depth over coffee sometime. It has brought nothing but peace into my life. My heart rests here. I no longer serve the God I had put together in my imagination, I serve the One true God. I live out this life... resting in Him, confident in my faith and more importantly assured that this all-mighty, powerful, Sovereign God not only loves me, but he likes me! He will keep me by His side, as His daughter, till the end.