There are many who believe that knowledge of the Bible, and of moral principles, will automatically result in religious and moral behavior. This is decidedly not true, as any acute observer and psychological counselor well knows. You simply cannot shame people into being good, nor can you educate them into being good, they have to change from within. They then do good, not because of their knowledge of principles, but because they are good. Religion should, therefore, teach people to change, not just teach them morals and principles.


Religious faith is often thought of as just one thing. But it is more complex than that. There are at least three types of religious faith. The first kind may be called intellectual faith. This kind of faith is derived from such reasoning as the ontological argument, the cosmological argument and the teleological argument. The second kind of faith is called credulity faith. In this kind of faith the believer believes anything he is told by authorities or tradition. The person who possesses this kind of faith believes all the doctrines of their particular church or religion without question. Another name for this kind of faith is blind faith. The third kind of faith is revelatory faith. It is a faith given to one by some invisible power. In this kind of faith the person “knows” but cannot explain how he knows.


Just because a person cannot explain why he believes and cannot trot out all the empirical evidence to prove his point, is no reason to invalidate his beliefs. He just may know something you don’t.


The reason some people do things of which they know better, is because they have not made a commitment to their being, to their unique relationships, and to life. If you haven’t, don’t you think it’s about time you did?


You can be aware and careful without being foolish and stupid.


Merely doing something because it is your duty may be good, but it is not holistic. Do something because you hunger and thirst after it, not because it is just your duty to do so.


If you do something that hurts another, you are faced with three major choices: You can sincerely, with broken heart and contrite spirit, truly repent and ask the hurt one for forgiveness, and work with him or her to overcome his or her hurt. Or you can decide to leave the relationship and enter another one which has different laws. Then you have to decide which choice is best.


One of the great secrets of life is to make choices which limit other choices.


Life hands us all choices which are inescapable. But to make other choices which burden us with additional choices is foolish.


Life seems to have so many choices which lead us either to confusion or despair. But handling them all is really simple. All you have to do is make a solemn commitment to do what is right rather than do what is convenient.


Once upon a time an orator declared, “I accept the universe.” One of the moderators commented, “She’d better.” The point is, while we do not have control over the universe, we do have control over ourselves. Moreover, whoever tries to live by the laws of the universe instead of trying to fight them, will be a much better adjusted person.


For people to not expect to suffer for their violations of universal laws is the most ludicrous of expectations.


It seems to be a common characteristic of man to want to set aside the laws of their own being, the laws of their relationships, and the laws of life in general when they are faced with the natural and inevitable consequences of their acts.