How much can living in a negative environment harm a Christian's faith?

Elegant said:

Is it consistent for a Christian who is struggling to grow spiritually to say that they can't grow much because an environment (with the characteristics mentioned above) prevents them from doing so?

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Yes, but they should make every effort to avoiding using environment as an excuse for spiritual laziness i.e. losing ones first love. Sometimes there are peaks and valleys in the spiritual life of an individual. True Christians are not always bursting at the seams with Joy. Sometimes we endure heaviness of spirit because God wants us to pursue Him in spite of feeling down. Get back up and pursue God anyway. Read the bible when you don't feel like it. Pray as though every thought is directed to God. Be still and let melancholy pass on by. God will reward your perseverance and honor your endurance. James 1:12 Blessed is the one who endures trials, for when they have stood the test they will receive the Crown of Life that God has promised to those who Love Him. God bless, my friend.

Elegant said:

In an environment where there is spiritual laziness, a lack of faith, where there is no understanding of commitment to Christ and the joy of being His children, where there are people who don't make even the slightest effort to seek God because they don't believe He can help them...
Can these conditions hinder a Christian who is struggling to rise spiritually and seek a better life in Christ?
Is it consistent for a Christian who is struggling to grow spiritually to say that they can't grow much because an environment (with the characteristics mentioned above) prevents them from doing so?
Can an environment be capable of hindering a person's spiritual growth?
Excuse me if this is a bit of a tongue-twister, but I think you get the point...
I understand that the relationship with Christ is personal... but if someone has fallen spiritually and is in an environment with these characteristics... could the environment make spiritual restoration even more difficult? To what extent?
Thank you. God bless you greatly.

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Some environments even make people feel like they've been separated from God and think it is their fault. The only thing they've done however, is attending such churches.

Elegant said:

In an environment where there is spiritual laziness, a lack of faith, where there is no understanding of commitment to Christ and the joy of being His children, where there are people who don't make even the slightest effort to seek God because they don't believe He can help them...
Can these conditions hinder a Christian who is struggling to rise spiritually and seek a better life in Christ?
Is it consistent for a Christian who is struggling to grow spiritually to say that they can't grow much because an environment (with the characteristics mentioned above) prevents them from doing so?
Can an environment be capable of hindering a person's spiritual growth?
Excuse me if this is a bit of a tongue-twister, but I think you get the point...
I understand that the relationship with Christ is personal... but if someone has fallen spiritually and is in an environment with these characteristics... could the environment make spiritual restoration even more difficult? To what extent?
Thank you. God bless you greatly.

Click to expand...

Jesus Christ of Nazareth gave us His Comforter, His Holy Spirit. This gives us His " full armor " when spreading the Good News Gospel to the harvest. Fully equip yourself because the laborers are few and the harvest is plentiful.

* Matthew 9:37-38
"Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.'"
Ephesians 6:11
"Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes."
John 14:23
"Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.'"

Blessings

It isn’t an ideal setting and you’re more likely to have mental and emotional hardships in turn which can affect you spiritually if you’re not proactive. You’ll want to emphasize prayer and fasting and consider keeping a journal to avoid bottling things up. Minimizing disputes is a must and saturating the environment with christian music, teachings and scripture is ideal. You can sleep to the bible and soakstream is a great resource.

~bella

Gustaf said:

In an environment where there is spiritual laziness, a lack of faith, where there is no understanding of commitment to Christ and the joy of being His children, where there are people who don't make even the slightest effort to seek God because they don't believe He can help them...
Can these conditions hinder a Christian who is struggling to rise spiritually and seek a better life in Christ?

Click to expand...

Yes, they can.

But Jesus came here from Heaven, and He was able to live very well, here. His character had a lot to do with if and how this wrong world could affect Him. Likewise, with the right character we can do well in even any bad situation. In Genesis 37-50 you can feed on the story of how Joseph stayed faithful to God and did all-loving good, right while his own brothers hated and betrayed him and he was put in prison for what he did not do, and he then had opportunity to get back at his brothers but he used that for helping them and many others. So, I would say, he had character all-loving and ready to forgive. And God made the way for his character to come out.

We need to seek God for real correction so our character and the resulting personality is His way > Hebrews 12:4-14.

Jesus did go alone to pray, and He did spend time alone with His disciples . . . not only spending time around enemies.

Of course, His own disciples could try to influence Jesus in a bad way. But Jesus stayed with loving and being humble and honest.

So, yes you can be "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation" and "become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault" > Philippians 2:13-16. God is the One who is spiritual and able to have us succeed with Him. Our Apostle Paul says, "Do all things without complaining and disputing, so that we can do this > Philippians 2:13-16. So, Paul encourages us that by not arguing we can get with God and staying with loving while we are with anyone; and with this we have this from >

bèlla said:

Minimizing disputes is a must

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And David says he could have all that God had for him of God's own table >

"in the presence of my enemies" > in Psalm 23:5.

So, yes we can have all God has for us, in any situation, at all . . . but with us becoming God's way in Jesus and His way of loving.

But you might consider, also, the things Jesus says to the seven churches . . . in Revelation. Where Jesus criticizes a church, He says the same critical things to a *w~h~o~l~e* church . . . not only picking out different individuals for different sin problems. So, if a whole church can be wrong in the same way, this tells me that yes they can have unity, even, but they all can be wrong together. So, even the company of other Christians will not necessarily guarantee that you are in a place of good influence. However, a group in unity can be very good, if you are living right with one another and helping each other. Therefore,

"Test all things; hold fast what is good." (1 Thessalonians 5:21)

Apparently college is not a good environment for Christian students



Percentage of students who reported attending a religious service in the previous year.

timf said:

Apparently college is not a good environment for Christian students

View attachment 366910

Percentage of students who reported attending a religious service in the previous year.

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Is there a graph after 2020? The pandemic restrictions were quite a factor that year.

The modern Christian expects every Christian to be an exceptional individual and not an actual human being in community with other human beings. They dislike the idea of having control over one's social environment and so they give that control to others. The results have been catastrophic for Christianity.

Gustaf said:

In an environment where there is spiritual laziness, a lack of faith, where there is no understanding of commitment to Christ and the joy of being His children, where there are people who don't make even the slightest effort to seek God because they don't believe He can help them...
Can these conditions hinder a Christian who is struggling to rise spiritually and seek a better life in Christ?
Is it consistent for a Christian who is struggling to grow spiritually to say that they can't grow much because an environment (with the characteristics mentioned above) prevents them from doing so?
Can an environment be capable of hindering a person's spiritual growth?
Excuse me if this is a bit of a tongue-twister, but I think you get the point...
I understand that the relationship with Christ is personal... but if someone has fallen spiritually and is in an environment with these characteristics... could the environment make spiritual restoration even more difficult? To what extent?
Thank you. God bless you greatly.

Click to expand...

Not one iota. It can make it harder, more difficult, but with belief and repentance you WILL SEE the FIRE. I promise you, according to what you need the most,right then as it shows different. The answer is belief, because without belief we can`t see God can`t see anything and repentance is crucial. you do NOT see God`s fire his Spirit without. no miracles. prayers are then extremely important or have someone pray for you if things are too much. Driving out demons or oppression can be what must happen depends on what is the problem or strongholds even generational issues. God knows. He can do it. Or just need a lot of prayer, and fasting. ongoing. It is hard yes. Just remember without repentance and belief, and then prayer no one can see God.

Ignatius the Kiwi said:

The modern Christian expects every Christian to be an exceptional individual and not an actual human being in community with other human beings. They dislike the idea of having control over one's social environment and so they give that control to others. The results have been catastrophic for Christianity.

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well isn`t it that there is no control, really

Godcrazy said:

well isn`t it that there is no control, really

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so you can say they do not give the control to God. no surrender. no power

bèlla said:

It isn’t an ideal setting and you’re more likely to have mental and emotional hardships in turn which can affect you spiritually if you’re not proactive. You’ll want to emphasize prayer and fasting and consider keeping a journal to avoid bottling things up. Minimizing disputes is a must and saturating the environment with christian music, teachings and scripture is ideal. You can sleep to the bible and soakstream is a great resource.

~bella

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the blood to pray that over you your house can do miracles

Gustaf said:

In an environment where there is spiritual laziness, a lack of faith, where there is no understanding of commitment to Christ and the joy of being His children, where there are people who don't make even the slightest effort to seek God because they don't believe He can help them...
Can these conditions hinder a Christian who is struggling to rise spiritually and seek a better life in Christ?
Is it consistent for a Christian who is struggling to grow spiritually to say that they can't grow much because an environment (with the characteristics mentioned above) prevents them from doing so?
Can an environment be capable of hindering a person's spiritual growth?
Excuse me if this is a bit of a tongue-twister, but I think you get the point...
I understand that the relationship with Christ is personal... but if someone has fallen spiritually and is in an environment with these characteristics... could the environment make spiritual restoration even more difficult? To what extent?
Thank you. God bless you greatly.

Click to expand...

you got a old swedish name by the way

Gustaf said:

In an environment where there is spiritual laziness, a lack of faith, where there is no understanding of commitment to Christ and the joy of being His children, where there are people who don't make even the slightest effort to seek God because they don't believe He can help them...
Can these conditions hinder a Christian who is struggling to rise spiritually and seek a better life in Christ?
Is it consistent for a Christian who is struggling to grow spiritually to say that they can't grow much because an environment (with the characteristics mentioned above) prevents them from doing so?
Can an environment be capable of hindering a person's spiritual growth?
Excuse me if this is a bit of a tongue-twister, but I think you get the point...
I understand that the relationship with Christ is personal... but if someone has fallen spiritually and is in an environment with these characteristics... could the environment make spiritual restoration even more difficult? To what extent?
Thank you. God bless you greatly.

Click to expand...

A negative environment can harm a Christian’s faith to the point of no faith at all. Just look at the world we leave in. It’s a pretty negative environment.

I don't think all Christians will find themselves in an ideal situation where everyone is a believer snad they are supporting each other. Or even sometimes theres a unhealthy situation between within an all Christian house or home. Life is like that and we find ourselves in all sorts of everyday situations.

Especially in a time when people are falling away from God. Theres probably mnore chance of ending up with non believers than believers nowadays. Or within a situation where you are saved but your family or household is not.

I was thinking about this with my family. I was saved after my family and only my son is sort of coming to God. Apart from a few friends from church and those I come across at work or volunteering I don't associate with many Christians and in some ways I sort of like this. Though I realise the importance of having a positive network of people and not necessarily Christians around me.

You can get positive feedback from non Christians and I think a lot of the social dynamics and relationship issues can be understood by most people who are empathetic. So long as they are positive and wanting the best for you and have wise counsel this is a positive network of people.

But fellowship with other Christians is also important as this is like minded pep[;e sharing their experiences and troubles in living in the world. So either way people around you that are positive even if that means outside your environment so that it builds you up to handle the environment better. Until you can find an alternative situation. Alos just networking often finds alternative opportunities as well.

In a paradoxial way and depending on your strength of faith I think when we are in situations where we are the only Christian this can sort of give you reason and motivation to shine Christ. And the best way I find is to say little. To not engage in philosophical and political talk or preach but just live as much as you can like Christ. Even if that means sort of going along with other peoples opinions when you disagree. While not coning it.

Christ teachings are radical in that it talks about loving enermies and turning the other cheek. Peter mentions being subject to masters and rulers even if they are unjust so that your obedient and humble example is without accusation and speaks for itself and causes others to reflect on their own injustices and poor behaviour.

They see Christ in the person and this exposes their wrong and causes them to look to God without saying a word. This is a powerful example that no one can argue or hold accusations against. In some ways though it seems non intuitive it can actually empower you to be more like Christ because now its not about yourself but Christ and setting a good example.

Its a bit similar to the principle that helping others helps yourself. Sort of takes your mind off yourself and onto something positive outside yourself. AA uses this principle in its 11th step I think where recovering alcoholics after changing their life go out and help others which reinforces their recovery because they are doing the opposite and helping others which lives out the principles of all the steps. Which is also the 2nd greatest commandment.