Should One Regret For Choosing Not To Believe In God?

When is regret a regret? When you see there is an opportunity - whether in business, personal relationships, or in being genuinely honest about something - and you don't grab it, you begin to regret.

It is not just an opportunity lost. It is an opportunity in which you know that taking it is the right thing to do. It is an opportunity in which doing something good for yourself or for the others is better than not taking it. For not to take this opportunity, nothing arises. You're still stuck in base one. You have not moved on. You became too complacent, wanting too much security. You became afraid. You chickened out.

It is an opportunity that could have gotten you to a better place, to become a better 'you'. But, it also opens up to the chance of falling short. Yet, if you don't grab that opportunity, one thing's for sure: nothing will change. And, you will be haunted by the heavy and pain inducing feeling of 'what would have happened if I had chosen otherwise?' You would never know because you never had the guts to find out for yourself.

For those who were brought up in a society that spoke of God's existence or non existence, the case of whether to believe in a God could mean immortality or eternal damnation in hell. It would have been very easy for many to believe in God because they have always wanted to be saved.

But what if you were serious about this case? What if you cherish intellectual honesty? What if, assuming there is a God, you want to tell Him that you needed to be true to yourself so to better present yourself as a substantial gift to Him? If God so too values intelletual honesty, then He would appreciate you as a gift even though you don't, honestly, believe in Him.

If He truly exists, but you had believed in saving yourself more than in Him, wouldn't that be a cause for great regret? If He were to truly exist, would he not be able to see your heart that had been darkened with selfishness and cowardice?

On the other hand, what if He were not to exist? Would you still regret for being honest to yourself?

The Living Truth

Truth is very difficult to define. So let us take up some examples of truth, or of how we use the word, 'truth.'

Mathematical truth. "Two plus two" is equal to "four." We say this is true. The opposite is false when we say "two plus two" is equal to "three."

Empirical truth. If I say "I have an elephant in my shirt pocket', then it is false because it is an empirical fact that there is no elephant in my shirt pocket. It is a fact and true when I say that there is a pen in my shirt pocket. This is an empirical truth because anyone, not just me, can see that there is a pen in my shirt pocket.

Biblical truth. If I say that "Christ is merely a man, not a son of God," then it is false because Christians believe that Christ is the Son of God, born without sin. While mathematical truth is based on logic, and empirical truth is based on the senses, biblical truth is based on one's faith. We can say that different truths have different bases.

There is another meaning of truth that is not necessarily based on the aforementioned. This truth is derived from, and created by, one's life. It is a truth that enables one to realize more of his or her nature and destiny. However, this truth is extremely difficult - and, at times, dangerous -to discover because it requires that one has to first accept one's ignorance, that is, that one does not know everything. Not everyone is willing to accept one's weaknesses. Everyone likes to know his or her strengths. Everyone wants to show off his or her strengths. Unfortunately, many cringe at the sight of their weaknesses. Knowing their weaknesses are actually a big step to knowing their selves. It takes moral courage to face them.

Many of us are afraid to know the 'dark side' of one's personality because we have something to hide from the others especially from ourselves. Through the years, we have built up an image of ourselves that we show to other people and to ourselves. This is a false image, a pretension. And it takes so much time and energy to keep up that façade that we actually become weary and stressed out. Furthermore, we become defensive when we sense that people can see through the façade (mask). The more masks we wear, the more we don't know ourselves; and the more we become ignorant and arrogant.

Why do we wear masks? Why do we lie to ourselves and to the others? We lie because we depend on the approval of the others. We want people to like us. There is nothing wrong with that. But, people might like us for the wrong reasons. And worst of all, we might love ourselves for the wrong reasons.

How do we free ourselves from all of these wrong reasons? How can we allow others to accept us for who we are? The answer is to first accept who we are. So, when we have humbly accepted our strengths and embraced our weaknesses, people will (eventually) accept and respect us for who we are. As a result, the truth about who we are sets us free to be who we are and can be.

As the Father should be to his Child

Daughter: Dad, I was going around with my friends during Halloween

Father: Yes, I know. Did you have a nice time?

Daughter: Yes, I did, until …

Father: What had happened?

Daughter: I lost your camera.

She was crying at that point. It was not a cheap camera. The father saw how remorseful she was.

Daughter: I deserve to be punished. Will you punish me?

Father embraced his daughter and asked: “Do you really feel bad for losing my camera?”

Daughter: Yes. Very bad.

Father: I request one thing from you.

Daughter, expecting to be punished, was not prepared for what the Father said to her:


I want you to regain your trust in yourself to handle important things. It's more important than losing the camera.


How would you handle this situation?