Is humanism creeping into your worldview?

I was recently reading a post from a very inspiring, convicting blog when I came across this thought:

Humanism is the belief that all things exist for man’s good and betterment, and therefore man determines right and wrong; Christianity is the belief that man exists for God, and as such, He knows what is best for us...  The two [sets of beliefs] are antagonistic in nature.  But there is a MAJOR problem…many Christians have unknowingly begun to follow the doctrine of humanism, wounding the body of Christ, rendering themselves impotent—and even worse—accomplice to man’s destruction.

I have been thinking about this off and on for several weeks.  What is our purpose for life on this earth?  What are we really living for?  I would guess that the majority of us (myself included) would indicate that we want—and perhaps even expect—a life that is "good" (according to our own standards) and nice and fun, and definitely without significant hardship.  And when hardship, suffering, illness, or just plain old unpleasantness touch or begin to permeate our lives, we (in our human condition) often feel shocked, dismayed, or even angry.  And we start thinking things like,
- why is God doing this to me?
- what did I do to deserve this?

And that is the very spot where we need to take a few steps back and think about our expectations for life.  Who are we living for?  As stated above, Christianity is the belief that man exists for God and that He knows what is best for us.  Do we trust Him??  Do we trust {a} that He is good and {b} that He loves us and {c} that He has the best plans for our lives?

All three of those points are the unwavering Truth!  If we, as believers and disciples of Jesus, are having trouble taking that in, we need to dig into God's Word to find the truth for ourselves and embrace it!  (See the verse references below to get you started.) 

That concept—that we exist for God, not for our own good and betterment—has huge implications for how we think (the filter we use as we process life's happenings) and the decisions we make.  In order to survive and thrive, we absolutely must understand that God is good, all the time, and that the way He deals with us is always through the filter of His love.  (If you want to discuss this further, please get in touch via the comments! I would love to connect with you!)

{a} Psalm 119:68, Psalm 107:1
{b} John 3:16, Romans 5:8
{c} Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 32:8, Romans 8:28-29