Daily life as a Christian

[Tellyontellyon]

Would you mind sharing your experiences of daily life as a Christian. How does being a Christian change how you think, talk and behave in general. Please give examples. What is it actually like to go about your life as a Christian.
How is it different to before? Does it feel positive to you?
Has anything got harder?

 

[Duke of Stratford]

Would you mind sharing your experiences of daily life as a Christian. How does being a Christian change how you think, talk and behave in general. Please give examples. What is it actually like to go about your life as a Christian.
How is it different to before? Does it feel positive to you?
Has anything got harder?

I was raised in a Christian household and grew up in the faith, and I think that’s led to me naturally having different values. I don’t like partying and overly crude jokes as much as a lot of people my age; I don’t think I’d care as much if I wasn’t a Christian.

On a day-to-day basis, I think being a Christian leads me to try to be understanding of people in a way that doesn’t always come naturally. I like to complain, and I’m not very patient, but trying to be more like Jesus is something that motivates me to try and be better at these things. I also think my faith has influenced how I think about giving. Not that I wouldn’t care if I wasn’t a Christian, but I think I’d view charity and generosity differently, y’know?

It can be very hard, especially when my friends want to do things that aren’t Christlike. I’m still far from perfect. But I’m trying to learn and grow and be set apart in love. It doesn’t always feel positive, but sometimes there are moments where I feel really joyful and confident, and that carries me through.

 

[Dave L]

As a believer, I delight to spend time in God's word every day and keep my thoughts centered on His love. So that love is the motive for all I think, say, and do. I reject all opposing thoughts and imaginations.

 

[Tolworth John]

Would you mind sharing your experiences of daily life as a Christian. How does being a Christian change how you think, talk and behave in general. Please give examples. What is it actually like to go about your life as a Christian.
How is it different to before? Does it feel positive to you?
Has anything got harder?

If one takes the example and teaching of Jesus seriously then one's life will undergo a change between before being a Christian and after becoming a Christian.
How did becoming a Buddhist change your daily life.

There are basic changes as one starts to read the Bible daily and to pray. There are attitude changes, the Command is to love others, to do them good and working out how you can do that takes time and where prejudice is involved a lot of effort.

If one is living a middle class life style of respectability there often is 't a lot of change until the inward mental and spiritual changes have been worked out.

For me this was the big one, to go from not caring about God's laws or opinion of my life to caring and trying to think as God would want e to is stillan ongoing task.

Again how did becoming a Buddhist change how you thought?

 

[Tellyontellyon]

Again how did becoming a Buddhist change how you thought?

You should start a thread about that maybe? But not this one.
This one is about Christians.

 

[pink318]

Would you mind sharing your experiences of daily life as a Christian. How does being a Christian change how you think, talk and behave in general. Please give examples. What is it actually like to go about your life as a Christian.
How is it different to before? Does it feel positive to you?
Has anything got harder?

Hello,

This is my activity from the moment I woke up. First, I will sit on the side of our bed and pray. Next, I will read my devotion so I can hear from God.I do this prayer and devotion not as obligation but as a privilege that I can speak with our heavenly Father. He is our Father and He delights in communicating with His children. I thank Him because He loves us and He is good all the time.

I attend our church’s prayer meeting and I have a life group. We meet once a week through zoom. Every Sunday, my family attends worship service livestream. I also listen to worship songs and hear sermons everyday while doing my chores at home.

In John 15, God says to connect to the Vine-Jesus so we will bear fruit. By connecting to Jesus daily, it changes the way I think, speak and act. By the grace of God, it helps me to be gentle when I speak. It helps me to love people and even pray for them. When troubles come, I learned to completely depend on Him so I can experience His peace and joy. It’s not always an easy life for us Christians, so when life gets hard, I cry to God and surrender everything to Him knowing He cares for me. Apart from Him, I am nothing and can do nothing.

 

[Tolworth John]

You should start a thread about that maybe? But not this one.
This one is about Christians.

It would be useful to have a comparison, that is why I asked.

 

[Lukaris]

I just try to live basic daily life of work & necessities. Keeping my conscience & subconscious states according to the Lords commandments ( Romans 13:1-10 etc.) is where I either do right or wrong. Spiritually I try to remember the Lord’s instruction to give alms & pray for myself & others ( Matthew 6:1-15 etc.) with the understanding of salvation by grace accompanied by works ( Ephesians 2:8-10 ).

 

[PloverWing]

Like Duke of Stratford, I was raised in a Christian home and environment. While there was a time when I affirmed my Christian faith for myself, I can't remember a time when I was opposed to Christianity, so I can't give you a before-and-after picture. But I can describe some of how my faith is lived out.

I try to set aside some time for prayer or study each day. My practice varies from one day to the next; I find that the variety is helpful to me. Some days, I read and reflect on a passage from the Bible, or from a Christian poet or theologian. Some days, I pray Noonday Prayer or Compline from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. Some days, I pray using an Anglican Rosary. Some days, I meditate. Some days (like the very troubling past few days) I pray by freely speaking my rambling thoughts to God. Usually, my devotional time is in the late afternoon or evening, as I'm pretty groggy in the mornings.

I attend church regularly on Sundays, and occasionally also during the week. I follow the calendar of the Church Year, changing some of my prayers and the decorations in my house to reflect the season.

In my daily life, I see myself (and others) as being the hands and feet of God on earth. St Paul talked about Christians being the body of Christ, and I think this is one way in which the metaphor applies. Most often, the way God works on earth to do God's will -- feeding the hungry, caring for those in need, working for justice in our social systems, and so on -- is to work through people. I try to make myself open to seeing where needs are, and open to seeing how God could work through me in meeting those needs.

To shift the metaphor, Jesus said "inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me". So I try to see Jesus in each of the people around me, try to see how each of them is treasured by God and is an embodiment of the image of God. How I treat my students, my family members, my next-door neighbor, my neighbors in the larger sense (whom I might not have met, but who live in my city or my country or the country next to us) -- how I treat them should be the same way that I would treat my beloved Lord.

 

[grace4ever]

Thank you very much for your great questions. I was raised Catholic but I didn't practice my faith. I turned to God when my grandfather got sick of melanoma in his left foot. So I decided to turn to God and I remember that I attended to my first spiritual retreat. That was the beginning of my process of conversion because it is a process that you develop whole your life even 5 minutes before you are going to die. I start my morning praying Lauds. It reads aloud psalms and canticles, usually recited after Matins and the end of which is to praise God. I make Lectio Divina also. This is about to read, learn, understand, study and put into practice God’s Sacred Word. Definitely, God’s word questions my thoughts, my words and deeds. In the book of Hebrews 4,12 says: Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. I participate in church in some of the ministries of evangelization, such as: I am involved in a Pro-life group and we make with my friends a role play for Holy Week and Christmas. Definitely Christian life has its ups and downs. However, this is a spiritual journey. But God understands that. He understands that we’re weak, we’re sinners, our fragility and sometimes unfaithfulness and inconsistent. St Paul says in the Sacred Scriptures that Christian life is not a speed race, but of endurance. In the 1st book of Timothy 3: 7-8 says: Train yourself for devotion, for, while physical training is of limited value, devotion is valuable in every respect, since it holds a promise of life both for the present and for the future. And St Paul says also in Hebrews 12, 1: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us and persevere in running the race that lies before us. I hope this will answer your questions.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Would you mind sharing your experiences of daily life as a Christian. How does being a Christian change how you think, talk and behave in general. Please give examples. What is it actually like to go about your life as a Christian.
How is it different to before? Does it feel positive to you?
Has anything got harder?

Since I was born into the faith, and thus grew up as a Christian I can't speak of a "before" and "after".

Trying to express an answer to this question seems somewhat difficult, but I'll try to do my best.

As a Christian I find myself frequently in a place of being torn, there is that which I know I ought to do and try to do, and yet fail to do it often; and there is what I know I ought not to do, but still do, and so I grieve over those things. Rather than saying what I try to do, and if I ever actually accomplish it, I would rather just say that it is my prayer that, when my story here in this mortal life has run its course, that what is said about me is that I tried to love somebody. I'm reminded of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Drum Major Sermon, where he says,

"If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. (Yes) And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. (Yes)

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. (Yes)
I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.
I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. (Amen)
I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. (Yes)
And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. (Yes)
I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. (Lord)
I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. (Yes)

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. (Amen) Say that I was a drum major for peace. (Yes) I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. (Yes) I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. (Amen) And that's all I want to say.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,
If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,
Then my living will not be in vain.
If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,
If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,
If I can spread the message as the master taught,
Then my living will not be in vain.

Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, (Yes) not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others, so that we can make of this old world a new world." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drum Major Instinct

I also think of what the Apostle St. Paul wrote,

"If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:4-14

These are the ideals I want to devote myself to. I cannot say if I have ever succeeded, but I can tell you of the many times where I have failed.

But in failing, I know that there is One who is merciful to love me and forgive me, and to hold me and to keep me.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Pavel Mosko]

Would you mind sharing your experiences of daily life as a Christian. How does being a Christian change how you think, talk and behave in general. Please give examples. What is it actually like to go about your life as a Christian.
How is it different to before? Does it feel positive to you?
Has anything got harder?

I really love your questions. I've been looking at doing some Christian writing as a kind of ministry, but have felt a bit blah about it because people seem to have most of their energy talking about all the problems going on with the virus, the protests and riots etc. and not focusing on spiritual things so much.
Anyway I plan take some time and write about something longer than most because I think this is a great topic. And hopefully posting this, will bump the thread up a bit, so more Christians here will consider your question and post.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

How does being a Christian change how you think, talk and behave in general.

Has anything got harder?

You know there are so many ways of being a Christian, that it will likely fit into what you were doing before just as long as you were not involved with something illegal or generally deemed immoral. Dating is something that I would expect many people would have to adjust as far as not having premarital sex etc. I left Christianity for a few years in college, where I explored eastern philosophies and considered myself a Taoist. And much of my life is similar, except being a Christian as far as my prayers etc. are concerned.


I would say my life is both structured and unstructured (but lately have been more unorganized than organized).


Much like Zen etc. you do have structured organized ways of prayer. I spent a few years in the Coptic church which pioneered Christian monasticism,and their are definite rules of prayer that might have a few parallels to Zen as far as a proscribed posture etc., and of course it is liturgical which might parallel some other ancient form of worship or meditation.

Below is the Coptic "book of the Hours" which are prayed throughout the day.
Agpeya: Coptic Book of Hours (www.agpeya.org)


"Sitting in Silence" or having a daily quiet time with God is highly encouraged, that probably goes back to Saint Anthony.


Besides this I also really love the various ancient church chants and am fond of singing them for devotion, inspiration etc. Often they are in English, but I do enjoy ones that are in other languages like Aramaic, Armenian etc.

Will post more later.