TESTIMONY: Practical knowledge not intellectual knowledge honors God

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I was brought up in an Anglican church environment. Both my maternal Grandparents were priests in the church. They had a church built in their yard which still exists today even though they have long passed. So I have always believed in the existence of God. There might have been instances in my life where I had questions which left me doubtful about his existence but I have never seen myself as a non believer or atheist.


My wife was also brought up in the Anglican church so when we got married it was an easy decision to continue with the church. I have never thought through this decision beyond the fact that I was continuing a family tradition. So if you asked me then, why I chose the Anglican church, I would not have an answer for you other than saying it is a family tradition.


When debates on religion came up in social gatherings  I could not defend my faith or my choice of church, as a result I avoided debates around church or religion. I did not realize it then but I now know that I avoided these debates for the following reasons:


  • Non believers or atheists had valid points and questions which I could not respond to, their arguments were too clever for me. 

  • There was nothing about my life that distinguished me from  the non-believers except that I occasionally went to church on Sundays. I worried about the same issues they worried about, I dealt with my problems the same way they dealt with their problems.

  • I had no practical God experience that I could talk about. Every now and then when I acquire material things I would call them blessings from God  but these material things are things that even non believers had also acquired, so I was labeling them blessings from God to justify my faith. But I had no practical experience that distinguished me from a non believer.


I was familiar with most Bible stories and characters which means I had the intellectual knowledge of God and I thought that was enough to honor him but I am learning that I was in fact doing a dishonor to his name. I should seek more than just the theoretical knowledge of who he is and seek practical experience with him.



Practical experience with God

God created human beings so that he can reveal his love and power by making an impact in the world through them. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God in Garden of Eden they revealed our default craving to be independent of God, a trait that led humanity to be separated from God.


Since then God has been on a mission to reconcile with us so he can restore us to his original intent i.e. revealing his love and power by making an impact in the world through us. He can only restore us to his original intent only if we experience him in our personal lives through a personal relationship with him.


Intellectual experience with God

Intellectual knowledge of who God is a first good step in the right direction but if left on its own without practical knowledge it does not lead to the fulfillment of God's original intent about us.


It leads to religious rules which are powerless to reveal God’s power and love in the world. It leads to a wrong perception of God and to man-made ways of honoring him as it was in my case.


My personal experience with God

When I realized that I have never experienced God's love and power in a personal way, I sought out a church that in its teachings encourages personal experience with God through reading his word and applying it in our daily activities. I have found that church but I must admit I still avoid debates with non- believers/atheists because I still do not have counter arguments or clever answers to their questions.


But I am not the same person I used to be, I now have the personal experience with God which I can share with them:  

  • The joy that I am currently experiencing for the first time in my life even when I am in the worst storms of my life. I am able to rejoice despite my circumstances because my trust is in him who created the universe, I am learning that joy unlike happiness is not determined by circumstances.

  • The peace I am experiencing even when my life is troubled. It is the peace that exceeds human understanding 

  • The love he first demonstrated for me even when I did not deserve it , has taught me to love unselfishly by making an impact in the lives of others even when life seems to be unfair to me.

  • The patience he had for me even when I was unfaithful to him has developed in me the ability to be patient and wait for his timing even when life says otherwise.


Actively seeking practical knowledge of God by putting his Word into practice enables me to be a living testimony of his love and power and that I believe honors him because it leads to the fulfillment of his original intent about my life. (Matthew 6:33)



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