> The kind of shallow belief in God, in my opinion, is just saying that you exist because he wants you to. So, then, anything you do in your life is because of him. It gives you kind of a carte blanche in life, to be able to say that what you do must be good, because he said it was.

For me, no.

I believe in God. He is to me my Savior and also my only Father, and yes, I believe I am here because he wants me here.

However, following Him for me is not an excuse to do what I want because "I'm Christian, and I can be forgiven, so I can do whatever I want to without fear of consequence." I follow God, and I believe that what He leads me to do will be best for me and for those with whom I interact.

While there may be people who live that carte blanch, it certainly is not representative of a real belief in God (though I am not presupposing anything of those who follow it -- I don't know them or what they truly believe). Actually, it is representative of itself -- people use lack of purpose in life to mean they can do what they please, too. It is not restricted to one religion or one lack thereof.

> You cannot live your life just for him.

Of course you can. I try my best to do just that. And when I do, I find my life is better -- and not just in the sense that I enjoy it more. I find myself being more patient, more sympathetic with others when I tell God I want Him to control my life. I find that when I trust Him to make my decisions, they turn out for the better (whether for my better or someone else's).

Living your life just for God doesn't mean you believe anything you do is His will. It means you try to conform your best to His will because you know it is best.

He hasn't asked me to go around poking people yet. He has asked me, however, to first love Him, then to be more loving even toward those who are hateful toward me, for example. To love others as He loves me. And I'm doing my best to follow that.

I'm not saying you must believe this. While I do believe God is real and that faith in Him is the real truth, I'm not telling you to believe that way. I'm just stating my own beliefs.

Ria