Did you know that two people can look at the same thing and see it totally differently? There are people who can hear the same story or experience the same event and come to completely different conclusions. There are a lot of negative things happening in the world today, and how you respond to them is going to be determined by how you see things—your worldview.

You might be wondering what a worldview is. A worldview is just a framework of basic beliefs that influences how you see things. Now, whether you know it or not, you do have a worldview. You have a way of looking at things. It’s a paradigm. It’s a way of thinking that shapes your perception of every single thing that comes your way. Over a period of time, based on what you’re taught, you will develop a worldview.

The classic example of competing worldviews is optimists vs. pessimists. Optimists typically view the world in a positive light, while pessimists tend to see things in a negative light. If you take a drinking glass and fill it halfway with water, an optimist will look at it as half full while the pessimist will see it as half empty.

Each of us sees things based on what we believe and, sad to say, there is only a small percentage of people, including Christians, who see the world through the Word of God and have a biblical worldview. The reason that society is going in a certain direction is because people have departed from having a biblical perspective on things.

A biblical worldview will make you see things differently from people who don’t have the same perspective. Look at the example of death, which is something common to every single person. There are some people that respond to death in nothing but total fear, terror, and dread.

When God created Adam and Eve, death was not part of His original plan for mankind. Death entered the world as a consequence of sin.

Death was never something God wanted you to experience. But if you accept the gift of salvation that Jesus offers (John 3:16–17), death is actually a glorious thing. Heaven is going to be so awesome that it won’t matter how much you suffer here on earth. If you accept what Jesus did for you, it won’t matter what you’ve gone through or how deep your sorrow and grief might be. When you go to be with the Lord, the things that happened here won’t even come to mind (Is. 65: 17).

You may go to church and sing “When we all get to heaven what a day of rejoicing that will be,” but if the doctor says you’re going to die, and you don’t have the right perspective, you might fall apart like a two-dollar suitcase. Instead, if you have a worldview based on what the Word of God says, you can respond, “If I receive my healing, great, but if I go to be with the Lord, that would be awesome!” If you take the Word of God and develop a biblical worldview, then it changes the whole way that you look at things and how you respond.

With television and the internet, we have a twenty-four-hour news cycle and are constantly bombarded with information. The news media works around the clock. They are not just reporting what is happening anymore. They are making projections and forecasting all kinds of tragedy. It’s not the evening news. It’s the evening prophecy!

People who have a secular worldview and whose only hope is in science, or doctors, or the government, will take what’s in the news and start reacting negatively. People will plan for disaster, insurance rates will go up, and the economy will suffer. All of this is striking fear in people’s hearts, and if you don’t have a biblical worldview—if you don’t know what God says—you’ll buy into the things they’re saying.

Jesus said, in the last days people’s hearts would fail them for fear, looking for the things that are coming to pass here on the earth (Luke 21:26). And yet, in that same context, he told us exactly what’s going to happen. There would be wars and there would be rumours of wars (Matt. 24:6). There would be famine. There would be pestilence. That sounds just like the news! But in the midst of it all, Jesus said, don’t fret but instead rejoice—lift up your eyes for your redemption draws near (Luke 21:28).

Now, if you had a biblical worldview, instead of being terrified and afraid, you could see all of the signs of the time coming to pass (Acts 1:10–11; 1 John 2:28; Rev. 22:12, and 20) and think, Praise the Lord, this is getting close—the second return of the Lord is coming! You can have a totally different reaction. That’s what Jesus commanded. Jesus told the disciples the night before His crucifixion, “Let not your heart be troubled: [you] believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1).

It really just comes down to your way of looking at things. Are you looking at the world through the Word of God, and is that how you process and react to things? Or do you deal with things based on your own understanding or secular worldview? Most people don't let the Bible get in the way of what they believe. Colossians 2: 8 says, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Whether you realise it or not, there is a battle going on for your mind, and you have to be on guard. You have to beware or Satan could take your focus off God’s Word.

What I’ve written here is just the introduction to Biblical Worldview: Foundational Truths, the first installment in my brand-new Biblical Worldview curriculum series. I really believe that this is one of the most important things I have ever taught. There is much more to learn about developing a biblical worldview, so please order this curriculum today. The Lord spoke to me some years ago about the need to teach on a biblical worldview, and I am very excited to offer these resources. The truths you learn from these teachings will change the way you see the world, and you’ll be empowered to respond to challenges according to God’s Word.

To order the Biblical Worldview: Foundational Truths curriculum go to awmi.net/bw-foundation, or call our US Helpline at +1 719-635-1111. *Please note: This curriculum is available from our US office only*