why those 6 reasons shouldn't be an excuse for not moving forward.
While I believe the reasons I cite for not regretting past ways of thinking of God are true and give me peace about the past, I am also aware of how easy it is to use those reasons as an excuse to settle in permanently to my present understanding of God. We humans long for something unchanging that will give us a sense of stability and certainty. In the particular world I was raised in this took the form of a set of beliefs about God that were said to be absolute. If any of those beliefs were questioned, I concluded that the person questioning it/them was at best not really solid in the faith and at worst, maybe not a true follower of Jesus.
Now that that some of those beliefs aren't as absolute as they were to me before and I'm at peace with that, I realize that my sense of stability and security was founded more on my beliefs about Jesus than on Jesus Himself. As I have ventured into a wider space in God where questioning is acceptable and even adventuresome, my sense of security and stability is in Him and I'm able to enjoy not being certain about everything.And so rather than using my "6 reasons for not regretting" as an excuse for settling into another comfort zone, I see them as affirmations of a lifelong lifestyle of learning, unlearning and relearning (see Unlearning and Relearning to Keep Learning). I'm slowly getting it: except for a handful of core truths about God in Christ, I must hold what I learn loosely, enjoying different discoveries AND enjoying the mystery that there is in Christ and enjoying others who understand Him differently. The sense of security is not in having correct doctrines but in the faithfulness of His Spirit at work in me along with His people and His word.
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