Thanks for your response. You have stated many things about what you believe. I'm trying to get to the essence of WHY you believe this? What's your most compelling reason?
In answer to your question, a moral act in my view is anything a person says, writes or does that maximises mental and physical wellbeing in others and themselves (this includes animals as well as people). I find situational ethics a good starting point.
Ultimately no one can "give" you what you're asking for, someone can't be given truth, they have to seek it for themselves. I have to tell you that for me personally, and this isn't "proof" to or for you, but this is what convinced me. To set the tone real quick, I wasn't raised in a Christian home at all, I was a product of the public school system, and a broken home. Not bad by any means, and was well taken care of and loved, but just not in truth, not in Christ. So I didn't come with any baggage from indoctrination or anything like that. As a younger man I would have told you "All religion was man made by the power elite to control the dumb masses.", and would have proclaimed this as known truth, with certainty. I was my most certain at my most ignorant, but as I got older and my first son was born my heart softened to Jesus a little. During this time I was more like "I like the idea of Jesus, but I got bills to pay in the real world. I repeated the prayer, was even dunked under water for good measure, but that's all it was, superficial.
Along comes life, another son, addiction, work, life, school all these things as the years go by, then help for the addiction to pain pills that lead to actual prosperity. As a matter of fact on Oct. 25, 2011 while I was walking down the stairs I reflected on how awesome life was, my thoughts where something like "I just paid off both credit cards, I have money in the bank, am leaving my awesome job to hop on my motorcycle with my long "viking braid", hanging down my back, going home to my beautiful wife, who's making my favorite dinner, and my two awesome sons. "I" got life whooped, look at what "I" did." That's all I can remember be cause I never made it the 3 miles home that day and woke up 19 days later in a hospital with no function at all in my right arm. This was the beginning of me coming to truth and seeing how great I (my way) truly was.
Without making this too long I went 2 solid years wishing I was dead. As my situation kept unfolding I was just in a nosedive. First blow was that they couldn't "fix" my injury. I just had a dead arm hanging from me now, forever, and of course it was the dominate arm. Then I was not going to be compensated for it, that was my hope, and was misplaced hope because the girl that pulled out in fount of me, whose SUV I flipped hitting it T bone at about 50mph, well she had insurance and it carried 10k bodily insurance max, and I got every bit of it. Yay! Only I have 750k in medical bills who has a right to that move before I do. So that. Then the car I really love, it was a silver 07 Nissan Altima, $600 from being paid off, guy comes out of Lowes, all the way across right into my wife who was driving it and totaled out, as in the damage was less than the "totaled" amount, but close enough to call it. Just one thing after another to the point that for two solid years I could go 5 minutes without contemplating suicide. I would run down my list of justification, "My wife can find someone to love and take care of her, my job can replace me, my dad will get over it (a lie, it would have killed him), until I got to my boys, I knew no one would love them like their father, and nobody would work as hard for their good ass I would. So I was stuck.
2 years of this, every 5 minutes, every day, and I had "0" power to change any of it, and was stuck, powerless, hopeless, and broken. That is until Sept. 28th 2013 (I was 33), and I was at home alone like I never was, but it all came to a head that day. I hit my knees broken and cried out, but not what you think because at this point if I had ever believed in God, I didn't now. I tried being a "Christian" and it didn't help at all. When I hit my knees I cried out "I can't do this anymore, I can't do this anymore, I can't do this anymore, world you win, I QUIT!!! Then picked my tear soaked, sobbing, heap of brokenness and went to bed. The next day I woke up new, and I didn't realize until lunch "I haven't thought about killing myself all day!!!", and it was right then and there I knew whatever happen it was God, and that Jesus the Christ was His Son.
I wasn't sharing this simply for my story in truth to change you or convince you of anything at all, even though I pray God does, but you asked "why" I believe, and I have to tell you because I KNOW Jesus, and understand the my love for Him is beyond you understanding outside of Him. See when we bow down in front and give Him everything, He actually does something real, paradigm shifting, and powerful. He actual resurrects your dead spirit and reconciles us to Him, as we were created to be. This is why I believe and this is a custom story for each one of us, and I pray that my testimony of His power, kingship, and goodness, that this comment is part of your "custom story" of how God drew you to Himself. He is real, He is alive, and is King!!!
I am a former prodigal myself, as many of us no doubt were at one time, and we are all born enemies of God, and fall short of the glory of God, which is why we need a Savior. I think it is wonderful that you did experience the forgiveness God offers through the covering of the shed righteous blood of Jesus Christ.
