Once upon a time, the people who lived by faith followed a certain creed — a statement of faith. On Sunday mornings, they often repeated the Apostles Creed during worship service. It was a reminder of their value system, the culture of belief they followed together. Something tangible to carry with them throughout the week as they went about their work or school studies.
Recently, while looking through an old hymnal for a familiar song, I noticed a ‘Confession of Faith’ from a surprising source. It was written by Leo Tolstoy, the famous Russian author of the 1800’s. His ‘War and Peace’ novel was the background of one of my high school research papers. And his novel ‘Anna Karenina’ emotionally wrecked me for several weeks.
But I had no idea Tolstoy was a man of such deep faith. His confession reads like a lovely poem, a song that reveals his heart:
“I believe in God, who is for me the spirit of love, the principle of all things.
I believe that God is in me, as I am in God.
I believe that the true welfare of man consists in fulfilling the will of God.
I believe that from the fulfillment of the will of God there can follow nothing but that which is good for me and for all people.
I believe that the will of God is that every person should love others, and we should act toward others as we desire that they act toward us.
I believe that the reason of life is for each of us simply to grow in love.
I believe that this growth in love will contribute more than any other force to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.”
As part of my workshop about Writing Our Legacy, I include a segment about writing a faith legacy for our children and grandchildren — for the generations to come. So that others can see and discern, as I did about Tolstoy, what we believed and why we believed it.
It is an effective spiritual practice to occasionally rewrite our own creed, our own statement of faith. Because we change from decade to decade. Because we learn new things about God and about ourselves. Because in writing down our beliefs, we see them in black and white and they remind us that our values are important.
And as we check ourselves at the end of each decade, we hopefully see some growth in how we view life, others, God, and ourselves. We might also notice ways in which we hoped to change, yet somehow failed to take that important step. Rethinking our personal creed forces us to once again underscore the areas in our lives and in our thinking that we hope to improve on. Those areas that we seriously wish we could change.
As Tolstoy wrote, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
Yet without changing, without growing, we become stagnant in our personal ruts. We surround ourselves with the same tribe of people and refuse to learn about other peoples and other cultures. Because it feels safer to just stay the same.
So here’s my challenge to you: Write your statement of faith, your personal creed, and share it with your loved ones. Share it here in the comments. Write it in a legacy letter to someone who is struggling to believe. Underscore the areas you want to work on and improve — the places where you struggle and see your own weaknesses.
Imagine what might happen if all of us could change for the better and truly live out what we believe.
©2024 RJ Thesman – All Rights Reserved
Image: Travel2h/Pixabay
One of my core beliefs is the importance of trusting God. Read about it in It’s All About Trust.
Isn’t it amazing that a Russia that can produce Tolstoy and his deep faith and ability to express it, can also produce Putin and his evil intent and ability to destroy the lives of thousands to achieve it? Isn’t it just as amazing that America can produce a Lincoln who helps us find our better angels, and a Trump who seeks to bring us down to his level of degradation?
Truly interesting and if we let it – mentally debilitating. We need to always focus on gratitude for who God is and the grace given us by Christ – even as we pray, pray, pray for our country.