It’s impossible to live in our external environment without developing a set of values and beliefs that help shape our philosophy. Philosophy has several definitions, including “the pursuit of wisdom,” or “the most basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes of an individual or group.” The trouble is that these definitions focus on our physical world and leave out God. As Christians, we need a philosophy modeled after Jesus.
Jesus is grace in human form. The irony of looking at philosophy without Him is that from an eternal perspective, this kind of philosophy doesn’t even exist. The wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he asked where this truth leaves the philosophers, scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters, adding that God made the wisdom of this world look foolish.
God saw to it that the world would never know Him through human wisdom. However, since we’re taught worldly “wisdom,” we must see to it that no one carries us off or captivates us through so-called philosophy, intellectualism, and plain nonsense that follows human tradition. These simply reinforce the teachings of the universe and disregard the teachings of Christ. For instance, grace gives us blessings that we don’t deserve; worldly philosophy says we must work to earn them. This mindset leads to wrong thinking. Wrong believing gives us the wrong results in life.
Spiritually, we should be at war with worldly beliefs and values. It’s important to be aware of our thoughts, examine each one, and discard those that contradict God’s Word. We do this by refusing to be conformed to this world and changing the way we think so that we can learn God’s will for us. This is called embracing the philosophy of grace.
There’s nothing wrong with learning, as long as we’re learning the right things. There’s no way to tell the difference without spiritual discernment from God. Setting our minds on things above, not on things on the earth, makes us students of grace.
Prayer:
Lord, it’s critical that You, not the world, teach us how to live. You warned us against the dangers of worldly philosophy that’s hostile to You. Thank You for being our heavenly Father who instructs us in grace and mercy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scriptures:
1 Corinthians 3:19
1 Corinthians 1:20, 21, NLT
Colossians 2:8, AMPC
Romans 12:2, NLT
Colossians 3:2, NKJV