What You Think About God Determines Who You Are

Whether you are an atheist, an agnostic, a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, or anything else, the statement holds true: what you think about God determines who you are. Just by knowing your theology (beliefs about God), I know plenty about you. Why’s that?

We Worship What We Admire

Ultimately, the deity that you worship is the being that you most admire. How you describe and think about that deity gives subtle indications of what you value and admire. Even people who claim to be Christians think about Jesus Christ in different ways. Some constantly refer to his love, his mercy, his tenderness. Others emphasize his justice and his promised return as a conquering king. As you can imagine, while both groups are correct, they seem to admire – and aspire to – different virtues.

We Become like What We Behold

Tony Reinke summarized this point well: we become like what we behold. Whatever you constantly look to and admire – whatever occupies the vision of your heart and soul – you eventually begin to be molded into its image.

This is obvious when we think about our ‘heroes.’ Because we admire them and think about them often, reading their stories, watching them in movies, or talking about them with friends, we subconsciously try to live our lives just like they do. These heroes are our inspiration, the vision of what we aspire to. We become like them.

So it is with our God. The deity that we admire, that we spend time serving, the god that we sacrifice ourselves for and visualize in our heart – we become like that deity.

Who Do You Worship?

For many people, the religion that they profess has nothing to do with the god that they worship. The Bible talks of people who have gods of their own making. Many people who claim to be Christians, Buddhists, or Muslims actually worship gods of their own making, regardless of what their religious texts say. You can see this is true by observing what they spend their time, energy, and resources to worship.

There are also people who claim to worship Jesus, but their ‘Jesus’ doesn’t look like the Biblical description. Sometimes it is easy to discover this as you discuss their beliefs with them. While they call their deity ‘Jesus,’ he looks just like they look – he doesn’t resemble the Biblical description.

Conclusion: What Is Your Theology?

A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” That is one reason why the Bible is so minute in its description of who God is. While it is only natural for us to emphasize certain characteristics of God and minimize others, the goal of every Christian should be to hold a proper, balanced, well-rounded, Biblical view of God. When you think rightly about God, you are molded into the sort of person that God wants you to become.

So let me ask you: what do you think about God? What is your theology?