The Foundation of Life
If asked, “what is the basic foundation that you are building your life upon?” How would you answer? Would there be only one thing that is superior to others or would it require more than just one? I could make a few suggestions but for everyone, it could be a different answer or a different combination of things. Here are a few ideas that you should consider as foundational anchors:
God, love, truth, family, financial security, friendship, loyalty, morality, community, church, religion, the rule of law, or perhaps a particular religious leader such as Jesus Christ, Buddha, Allah, Joseph Smith, etc., etc., etc. This is assuming that you are a matured person at this time and capable of making your own decisions. For immature persons, the sky would be the limit consisting primarily of selfish, personal desires.
Oddly once we become adults in the position to determine what we would like to build our lives upon we would probably need to digress first and undo some of the things that we thought were important. Generally, we learn that physical things can only take us so far. Eventually, your life will reveal what life itself requires. Rather than stuff and things it needs substance that propitiates existence and holds it together. One of the most common of all substances would be that of love.
What would it look like if you were to build your life upon the foundation of love? Is it even possible to love everyone and everything? No! I do not love evil, evil people or even certain types of food. Therefore, for me to build my life around the word love, that would create a problem for me personally. I don’t, nor do I wish to love any and everything alike. I am not even sure that God loves any and everything. Scripture says that God hates sin and a number of other things as well. But to model, your life around the act of love would be an entirely different matter. That would mean that we allow everything to filter through the substance of love as the intent so it would be handled as God does it. For example, we can love the sinner but hate the sin. That is how love should be properly administered.
What about using God as a foundational building platform? Nothing could be better as long as it is the One and True God. There are many gods but only one true God. Yes, I know this statement conflicts with what people of different religions accept as truth but our Creator is the ultimate foundation upon which to build one’s life around. Since I assume that there may be a few people who are not Christians that may read this article, the point that I make is not to convince anyone how they should worship but merely to suggest that you build your life around solid foundational blocks. If you worship differently then it could be Allah, Buddha, Krishna, or a host of other deities that heads your religious practice. I would also assume that most of us would feel safe building our lives around the one that we worship as our Supreme Godhead. Since that entity could be different for different faiths, why use that as a stumbling block rather than finding a commonality that draws people together. As a person of faith I am always willing to share my beliefs and views about Christ, but not at the expense of causing others to doubt or to lose their hope and belief. That is not my mission besides my God I believe in will defend Himself.
If I might deviate away from religion for a moment love is a common value that we all should recognize as a positive force in the universe, even if you do not believe in God. If one would center their life upon the principals of love it would essentially be the same as centering their lives on the same deity that is referred to as God. Even though different people of different cultures and regions of the world may not be exposed to the same information about the same God, love is something that everyone should fully recognize. In the same manner, we should recognize its opposite, which is hate. Love actually compels us to do things that are beneficial to others. It compels us to pursue peace, to respect one another, to care for your family and friends and to perform a host of things that genuinely helps people. On the other hand, religion tends to draw lines that divide people if they do not worship in the same manner. The irony of a religious war is baffling to me but over the history of mankind, more people have been killed in wars over religious faith or persecution, which I consider to be hate. On the other hand, I do not know the statistics involving people being killed because they loved too much.
Another similar value use as a foundation would be that of truth. The only problem with that is people tend to disagree upon whose version of the truth is accepted as THE truth. In actuality, there is only one truth but when it comes to dealing with various people, we tend to have different interpretations or opinions regarding nearly all subjects. If someone says the sky is blue then another might argue no it is not blue because there is no color in looking out into blank space. Then you go deeper into logic and reasoning and the argument gets deeper and deeper until the truth becomes secondary to winning the argument. Truth itself is not based upon one’s morals, principles, or beliefs. Truth stands alone as an arm of Almighty God. That means we can only know the truth if God reveals it to us.
Atheists believe there is no God so that would imply that they do not believe in rules of governance that are dictated by a divine deity. It does not mean that they are evil people but just they do not believe in a divine God. Does that mean they do not have the capacity to love? Perhaps, but their version of love comes from the self rather than from a divine source. Though there may be differences in interpretations you can see how their version of the truth would be different from those who believe in a divine source. Still building a foundation of life around what one perceives to be the truth would necessitate having a secondary mount to validate one’s truth. This is where the substance of love could be of assistance. If someone is willing to love in spite of what you believe to be your truth then again they would be using the very substance of God so what would be the harm?
When we began to over-analyze things deeper into logic and reasoning it is like going down a rabbit hole so deep until you don’t remember how to find your way back out. When I think of God I simply think of love. When I think of truth I think of God. It is not important to me to over-analyze words that take me deeper into a rabbit hole. Rather than argue about whose version of the truth is right or whose God is the real Creator, just love one another and do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. If you give love freely then the real God will find you and reveal the real truth to you.
Ultimately you should build your life upon the foundation of love and everything else that is important to God will find its place in your soul. Don’t get into these arguments over mere words. Why argue about things that you can neither prove nor disprove. God speaks the universal language of love. Upon this rock, you may build your spiritual house. Selah!
