The simple man believes every word,
but the prudent man watches his steps.
Proverbs 14:15 (BSB).
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Finding God Beyond Religion
I left my religion some years ago. In the process, I found something deeper than doctrine, deeper than fear of disfellowshipping or fear of disappointing men who claimed they spoke for God. Instead, I found a close relationship with God and Christ that didn’t require a human governing body to mediate.
When you are part of a high-controlled religion, you don’t realize at first how much your thoughts and choices revolve around someone else’s decisions. The leaders declare that you cannot grow a beard; then one day they reverse the ruling. Dates for the end of the world are proclaimed as certainty—and then those dates come and go, quietly brushed aside as if they never happened.
When you leave, those still inside may say unkind things. They may imply you left God, or that you’re spiritually weak. But that is simply the crown spirit of high-controlled religion: you’re expected to let someone else do your thinking for you. A “mind of your own” is painted as rebellion.
Yet that is precisely what God gave us—a mind, a conscience, and the invitation to draw close to Him as individuals. That’s what I embrace now. I may no longer fit into the neat box of my former religion, but I believe more than ever in God’s presence and Christ’s personal love.
There comes a time when one must ask: do I believe these leaders are truly directed by God? The evidence I witnessed, and the teachings I once defended, say otherwise. The deeper peace I feel outside of their control, and the clearer voice of my conscience telling me God is much greater than these human dictates, say otherwise too.
And so, I choose this freer, more sincere faith. No longer filtered by the ever-shifting rules of men. No longer stifled by fear or blind obedience. Instead, I stand in my own light before my Creator.I
And the truth is, if everyone who are going through the motions in such controlling religions just up and left, then th a t surely would bring about change.