What Russian Soldiers—and You—Believe to Be True

During the first week of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I heard Ukraine’s ambassador to the US say that a platoon of Russian soldiers surrendered to the Ukrainian military. She said they “didn’t know that they were brought to Ukraine to kill Ukrainians. They thought they were doing something else there.” She didn’t specify what that “something else” was. But, before the invasion, Putin alluded to a “peacekeeping” mission in Ukraine. Perhaps that’s what these Russian soldiers believed they were doing.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN shared what he said were some of the last words of a Russian soldier to his mother. He texted his mother to say, “We were told they would welcome us.” Moments later, he was killed.

We operate on what we believe to be true. If we believe we’ll be welcomed during a peacekeeping mission, we likely will go along. If we believe we’re being ordered to engage in war crimes while people throw Molotov cocktails at us, the best among us will disobey and blow the whistle.

What we believe matters. We speak and act according to what we believe.

If we believe that donuts are free at Buddy’s Bakery tomorrow, we know what’s for breakfast.

If we believe that these jeans make us look fat, we won’t wear them.

If we believe that a vaccination will harm our children more than it will protect them, we won’t let them get it.

If we believe that embryos and fetuses are living human beings, we’ll do all we can to protect them.

What we believe matters. We speak and act according to what we believe—whether or not it’s true.

We should be careful with our beliefs—whether they are beliefs about what’s in the news, or what people think about us, or what God is like.

Some people believe that God causes people to suffer in hell forever, so they don’t love Him. Some people believe that God is no better than the people who bear His name, so they don’t trust Him.

What we believe matters. We speak and act according to what we believe.

Here are some questions we should ask ourselves:

• What do I believe to be true?
• Why do I believe it’s true?
• What do I say—what messages do I send—because of what I believe?
• What do I do—how do I behave—because of what I believe to be true?
• When I consider the words and behaviors of others, do I also consider what beliefs might be behind those words and behaviors? When I understand what they believe, how does it help me understand what they say and do—and why they say and do it?

We speak and act according to what we believe to be true. What we believe matters.