I saw a quote going around facebook this week that I agree with 100%. It says, “Your beliefs don’t make you a better person. Your behavior does.” So true.
Yet, it made me stop and think about my own faith and beliefs and about Mormons as a whole. With much attention on our faith right now, it would be nice if people could say that mormons were always the best people, but that simply isn’t true sometimes. In some places, if you’re not mormon, you’re not accepted. Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in our own church activities and friends, we forget that there is a whole world out there of interesting people that need love and acceptance. I have seen this over and over again.
My view is that if your beliefs don’t induce better behavior, then you might as well believe in nothing.
We believe that we are supposed to love our enemies, show charity to others, and act in a Christlike manner at all times. Of course, we are human, so we won’t be perfect, but I think it would be nice if our beliefs did directly affect our behavior at all times making us known around the world as some of the best people there are.
Unfortunately, there are many many people out there who have had bad experiences when interacting with people of our faith. In this day and age, they blog about it, tweet about it, facebook about it, and word spreads fast. So, it seems that we should be trying even more to exhibit good behavior so that our belief system is reflected in a positive way.
I have heard people that share my own religious beliefs speak and act in ways that have embarrassed me. While we can’t always emanate love 100% of the time, we should soften our hearts. Accept others. Love our neighbor instead of judging them. Embrace differences. Be open minded. Try to learn about others. Serve those that are different than us. Look for ways to help.
Maybe then, someone might say about us that are beliefs do make us better people too.
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