Christian for the Wrong Reasons

Humble me Lord · Apr 20, 2017

The sad reality is that a lot of christians do this in some degree or another (including myself), because no human has been or ever will be perfect, except Jesus.
Think of this; If you met a new boyfriend you really liked, you wouldn't just casually talk to him once in a while, you would try to be near him, call him, everything you could do find out more about him. It's a relationship, you will find out that the more you pursue a relationship, the more you will want to make it stronger, it's a process, it takes time
What version of the bible do you read? I had a hard time reading the KJV at first and used the NIV for easier understanding and it helped me.
God Bless and keep seeking

Solomons Porch · Apr 20, 2017

Agreed

Solomons Porch · Apr 20, 2017

Ask Him to move you out of the way. Ask Him for His eyes, His ears, His heart, His mind. Tell Him you wanna be just like Him. Tell Him if you begin going in the wrong direction of selfishness, to put a roadblock up, put the brakes on ya. Tell Him you want to feel what He feels. Tell Him to take out your heart, and give you His heart. God I wanna love You like You love me. Whatever breaks Your heart, let it break mine. Give me a blood transfusion, take out my blood, and give me Yours. Whatever is in me that is not of You, remove it in Jesus name. Take my blinders off and show me a new way. Let my old man die, and bring forth the new man, the man You destined me to be. Get serious with Him and He'll get serious with you. He wont text you, He'll talk to you. Its an inner voice, sometimes its soft, sometimes its loud. You just gotta quiet the noise of the world and be still and know that He is God. He knows your thoughts from afar, before you ever speak them. So dont speak fake, speak real, because He see's the real, and waits to hear the real.

visionary · Apr 20, 2017

We all battle this "dedication to self". May your battle be won to His glory. It is worth every step closer you get to Him. The fact that you recognize this flaw in your relationship with Him is the first step towards finding the cure. Keep praying and keep studying .. God will answer those who truly seek Him. He can be found. Right now He is watching you, while you learn about where your heart is. Who else would give you the conviction that all is not right between you and Him? Trust me, when I say this, If you do not think there is a problem between you and Him you are blind. He has opened your eyes to the flaws in the relationship. Praise God and thank Him for revealing this to you. Then ask Him to show you the way.

Mountainmike · Apr 21, 2017

But first consider the positives : you acknowledge certainty that he is present, you have faith , and second you feel the need to engage with him. You have the essentials!

Interestingly the full act of contrition prayer in catholic penance ( confession ) recognises the very difference you point out.

"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, known and unknown, not only because I dread the loss of heaven and dread the pains of hell, and not only because Thou art my Creator, my Redeemer and my Sanctifier, but most of all because my sins have offended Thee, my God, Who art all good in Thyself and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance and to amend my life. Amen."

And it recognises it because ALL of us struggle with the same battle, so are obliged to say so in some contrition prayers. You are not alone!

Monna · Apr 21, 2017

We love him because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

Focus on him (Jesus, who made God known to us), on his life - the way he behaved towards people, the things he did, the things he said - his death (especially why...) and his resurrection. Read what others said about him. Look for the hundreds of promises made to us in the scriptures. Look around yourself and count your blessings, and know that every one of them comes from God. Praise him and thank him.

We love him because he first loved us. The 'because' can have two meanings: 1. because as a response - his love towards us causes a responding love towards him. 2. because as an empowering factor - God is love. We can't love on our own, love comes from him. Don't even try to love with your own love. Give it up and accept his love in you, towards both him and everyone around you. You get the bonus of building up a genuine love of yourself (self-respect, accurate self-image, etc, etc.)

And another tip: love is an action word,a verb, not primarily a feeling. That is, love is active.

Buggins · Apr 21, 2017

Regardless of your feelings or motivations, the most important thing to realise is that God loves YOU utterly and completely. He wants you to be happy, He wants to raise your self esteem and free you from all your fears. As a bonus you will receive eternal life! Can't be bad, can it? I would suggest you get yourself off to a Bible believing church and have a 1-1 session with a pastor or minister and honestly share your heart. Then ask God to come into your heart.
If you've done all that, you need to get your eyes off your feelings and vacillations and focus on God and His faithfulness and steadfastness.

Goodbook · Apr 21, 2017

Jesus died...we are crucified with Him.
He rose again...we will also be raised.

Look to the cross. Look at his hands and feet. What do you see?

HereIStand · Apr 21, 2017

A few thoughts. We don't naturally love God because of sin. However, as Peter Kreeft has noted, 'fear of hell is not a base motive. God's graciousness accepts even the "low" motive of fear of hell for salvation if that's the best we can muster.' Additionally, as Phillip Cary as noted (based on Augustine), loving God is a gift that we should pray for, just as we should pray for the gift of perseverance in faith.

The_Gaurdian87 · Apr 21, 2017

There are times where I been where you are Lukewarm Lex. I believe in God and I do believe that I love him but my actions don't always reflect that. I don't read the word and pray as much as I should, due to me being caught up in pursuing my own pleasures or goals. I do attend church but I am not as active as I once was with volunteering in the church. But sometimes I do have to ask myself do I truly believe in God and Jesus Christ because I love him or because I am afraid of going to hell or some other selfish reason. Whenever those times come in my life, I just start to focus on God and just remember how it feels when I am in his presence and all the great things he as done for me though out my life. The joy I feel is nothing but God and I know that I truly love him. I think we all have had those moments in the Christian faith and I think it's just the devil trying to cause us to doubt our faith. I was say just to continue down the path and as God to renew your mind and spirit and truly build a relationship with him.

Xavier Cane · Apr 21, 2017

Friend,

The only reason you have guilt before God is because of the Holy Spirit. If Hell were not real and the bible did not mention it, no one would be truly saved, and no one would have any reason to fear Gods Judgement. Your fear of Hell is a good thing, and we are all motivated by selfish ambition, even the most devout believers of Christ Jesus. No your attempts are not in vain, unless you truly hate God. God cannot be fooled, nor can He be manipulated. God wants faith, and He will do the rest through the Holy Spirit in us.

Sin will always make the heart cold and hard against God. Even those we do not know we commit, all sin has consequences with our communion with God, but Because of Jesus Shed Blood, Sin does not seperate us from a relationship with God. However, sin is still the problem. We all have a sinful nature, even after being born again. The only answer for sin is Jesus Christ shed blood. Nothing else. Sin is all of our problem, and so is selfish ambition. It is God who works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

What you must do is seek God for His will for your life. If you are in it for material gain, then yes, it is all in vain. If you are in it for the spiritual, to have a relationship with the Creator of the universe, then no, it is not in vain. Jesus said, if any man would come to me, I will in no way cast them out. If you ask God to teach you how to love him, He defiantly will, but that does not mean it will be easy. Actually, it will be the opposite, because we were born with the very nature to hate God. Praise God for his wisdom and mercy. Amen.

frettr00 · Apr 21, 2017

I had a break through moment years ago when I started praying the rosary. I wanted to feel love for God so I started praying the rosary with the intention of feeling love for God. After about 2 weeks of praying it every day I received an outpouring of the holy spirit. I was filled with a great love for God and wanted nothing more in those moments than to be in Heaven with him. You could try this and see how it works for you.

NJM24 · Apr 21, 2017

Your attempts to seek God are not in vain. I'm guessing you do have love for God or you wouldn't feel guilty about ignoring Him. I believe more than a few people initially seek God for selfish reasons but once we get to know Him our goals change. Talk to Him daily even if it's for a moment and read His Word daily even if its just a verse also ask Him to renew your heart and mind and know that change doesn't happen overnight. You will see a change and eventually want to talk to Him and read more. Don't give up! I also agree with the other member. There may be principalities attempting to keep you away from God. Please don't allow that to happen.

S.O.J.I.A. · Apr 21, 2017

I say continue to cry out to the LORD to change your heart and mind. be honest with Him. tell Him that you don't want to read the bible and that you would rather do your own thing than spend time with Him. tell Him that you find Him boring and in all this ask Him to change you.

been there done that. the solution was the LORD truly saved me!

Tolworth John · Apr 21, 2017

are you timNarcissist who posted on reddit:-
My lazy attempts to seek the Lord are either motivated by fear of hell or done out of guilt. I sometimes feel guilty for ignoring God so I pray. I don't seek him because I love him or want him. I seek him out of selfish ambition. I've asked that he help change my perspective on him so that I can love and trust him but my heart has grown harder against him. Are my attempts to seek him in vain?

To be blunt if you are afraid of hell you would not be lukewarm or lazy in seeking God.

What is your priority your idle pleasures now and an eternity of grief or some hard intellectual thought now to gain an eternity.

Buggins · Apr 21, 2017

Amen brother!
Many of us get off to a rocky start in our new Christian faith. We fluctuate, doubt and backslide.
But you know I always remind myself that God knew what He was getting when He signed me up as a child of God. He knew every dirty, greasy, horrible thing about me.
And He loves me.
He is committed to me to bring me through and make me a man of God.
I think many of us suffered from spiritual oppression before we got saved. However it happened, some of us were being targeted by evil oppressions which tried to turn us away from God and neutralize us as Christians.
Now we shouldn't go overboard on this but if you've come from a broken home or a violent home, or known rejection at an early age; those things can affect you. Even as a Christian, and sometimes we may need counselling, spiritual healing or even deliverance.
What I do know is that God is faithful. He will not back off from any of His promises, and if we trust Him and step out in faith He will honour that act of faith, however weak. Most of all our Father forgives us when we admit to sinning and picks us up and takes us on. I'm so grateful to have known God's salvation for the last nearly fifty years. He has blessed me, led me through good times and really tough times. Alleluia!

rambot · Apr 21, 2017

Lukewarm Lex.

Might I suggest a paradigm shift...yeah, that's all, nothing huge. :sorry:

Try viewing your life, in a very real way, as a minute by minute experience to be grateful for.

God has given us SO much in our lives to be thankful for. If NOTHING else, you are currently living in a country that is (probably?) not having bombs dropped on it. Start with gratitude for that. Then get to more important and obvious things. Clean air to breathe. Employment. Relationships. Delicious food. Nature. There are hundreds of things in this world around you that are really neat. Start noticing cool little things (no joke, like birds singing) and pay attention to them.

When you start viewing your relationship to God as nothing more than a guilt thing, it becomes a legalistic relationship and it becomes VERY hard to have a meaningful relationship with a legalistic entity because everything feels contingent. God ain't like that though. Take the focus away from the rules and obligations and just sit back, enjoy the life you live, and thank God for every single experiential second of it!

I think that would be a good way to start feeling closer to God.

David_AB · Apr 21, 2017

In my opinion you've already made a massive step in recognising that in yourself.
Many people go through their whole lives and don't reach that level of self reflection so take heart.

DarthNeo · Apr 21, 2017

First, I applaud the HONESTY of your post.

Not wanting to go to Hell is a valid enough point to accepting Christ. Now, after you have your FIRE INSURANCE, the Holy Spirit will want the relationship to grow beyond that. As you have admitted, the harder part is "dying to yourself," allowing you "new man", your "new creation live and thrive." Make no mistake about it, until you die or Christ returns, there will ALWAYS be a struggle between the old you and the new you. As a good friend of mine always says, "MORE Him, LESS me..."

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you love, grow, and worship...

chihwahli · Apr 21, 2017

I think you are doing good so far. Do you remember the story of Jonah? When did the City of Nineveh repent? When Jonah went and told them to repent otherwise they will be destroyed. I guess many of Nineveh were scared and thus started to change.

The interesting question is why you have not progressing much more than you want to. You want to, change, otherwise you would not post this........

As other people say. Keep praying. In the way you feel now, pray and ask Lord Jesus to change you. Tell Him how you feel, what you think is not right, how you want to become, etc.

Just tell your Lord Jesus and ask Him to be Lord and King over your live. and expect from that moment that Jesus is changing your live. And if you do not sense anything spectacular like falling or shaking whatever, continue to believe He is working in your live. But eventually you will notice difference. Because changes in the beginning are small, but they are present.

If you ask and give Jesus the authority to change you, you can bet on it, it will be done! For your God hears and does. He has counted all your hair on your head. Someone how knows such small detail about you surely will answer. Just be ready to receive the changes!

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