A quick search on the Internet or in the dictionary will yield several definitions of the word ?believe?. Depending on the source, ?believe? means ?Accept as true, be confident about something, follow a credo, have a faith, credit with veracity, etc.?
While the word ?believe? can be used in a secular sense, it is an essential part of being a Christian. In fact, Our Lord mentions the importance of ?believing in Him? several times in Chapter 6 of John?s Gospel:
Jesus said to the crowds, ?I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.? ?For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.? Jesus said to them, ?I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.? Jesus answered and said to them, ?This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.?
What does it mean to ?believe? in Jesus? Does it mean to simply acknowledge that He exists? With that logic, Satan and Judas could be called ?believers?. Therefore, what does it REALLY mean to believe in Christ? To use the secular definitions as stated above, if we truly ?believe? in Jesus shouldn?t we accept Him, be confident in Him, have faith in Him and credit Him as being true? Therefore, we should be willing to accept all of His promises AND His teachings, shouldn?t we? Let?s ask ourselves today if we truly believe in Christ and in ALL of the teachings of the Church that He founded. While it?s easy to ?say? that we believe, living it is much more difficult. But when you consider that the reward is eternal life, it makes all the difficulty worthwhile!
