i really love my christian bf, but why is it so hard...

[WashedClean]

When I first put my faith in Christ, I hadn't read any of the Bible in many many years. The Holy Spirit simply convicted my heart that I needed Jesus as my Savior. It was an instant change of mind and heart, I can't really explain it. But after that, the very next day, I had a longing and thirst to read the Bible. I couldn't wait to go out and buy one.

Somehow God gave me faith to believe all of it. If you allow for a supernatural God, then it's much easier to believe the Flood, talking donkeys, etc. Ask God to reveal Himself to you, show you who Jesus really is and to open your heart. The bottom line is that until someone is convicted by the Holy Spirit that they need a Savior due to their sin, they will not repent and put their faith in Christ.

For instance, my husband knows he's a sinner, but he doesn't realize how serious that is and that it separates him from God. If God can't be in the presence of sin, then how can sinful man have a relationship with a Holy God? God is offended by our sin, whether big or small. I think that's the hardest thing for people to grasp, myself included at one time. We always want to grade sin, but all sin is offensive to God.

OK, now I'm babbling

 

[TexasGirl06]

Doggysteps....

Christianity has some really, good News !
But...there is really bad news, too.
I can't share the Good News, without telling you the bad news first.

The bad news goes all the way back to the beginning.

God created man and woman....and everything was perfect. Even man and woman.

God gave them a free will.
He wanted them to be able to love Him freely....
free to love Him, or not.
Unlike a robot love, which he certainly could have made them like.
Yes, real love is about a choice.

Well, cute and perfect little Adam and Eve....they didn't get very far in the Garden.
Satan was there....and he tempted them...and Adam and Eve sinned.

Satan?
Yeah.
He's the bad guy.
Satan is actually an angel.
Satan once thought that perhaps he could be better than God. He could have power like God.

No.
God is not going to stand for that.

Satan even convinced 1/3 of all the angels in Heaven to follow along in this rebellion.

So, our Great God kicked them out of Heaven.
Yes, 1/3 of the angels that God created....are now bad angels and they do not like us people.
Satan is their leader.

So, God tells Adam and Eve that they are free to eat from any tree in the Garden, EXCEPT...they should not eat from this one tree. The tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If they eat from this tree, they will surely die.

Satan encourages Eve to eat from it.
Come on, Eve....
You'll be smart, just like God....if you eat from it.

Eve eats.
And, Eve brings some to Adam to eat.

Adam and Eve have disobeyed God....
Adam and Eve have sinned.

Ouch.
Sin has entered the World.

...to be continued !
The good news is coming... I promise !

 

[TexasGirl06]

So..... sin is in the world.

The Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.
Everyone.
That's me.
That's you, doggysteps.

Did you ever steal a candy from a store?
Sinner !

Every disobey your parent?
Sinner !

Get the picture?

God tells us that the wages for sin is death.
Because we have sinned....
we will die.
This death is referring to an eternal death.
When we leave this earth in death, we will go to hell for all eternity.

But.... this is God.
He created us !
He loves us !
How can He now sentence us to eternal Hell ???

He does love us.
He will provide a way for man to not have to spend eternity in Hell, separate from Him.

He will provide the shedding of blood, for the forgiveness of sin.
God tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness for sin.

In the Old Testament, God instructed His people to sacrifice unblemished animals in order to "cover" their sin.
By faith, God's people did this.
All this time, God was preparing the stage for the Ultimate Sacrificial Lamb to come to earth.

God will eventually send one who will be slaughtered....for the sins of the World.
He is going to send His one and only Son.
His Son is Jesus.

....we're getting to the really good stuff !
Hang on !
The best is yet to come!!!

 

[TexasGirl06]

Jesus is born in the manger.
You know the story.
In Bethlehem.

Jesus is perfect.
He is without sin.
The Perfect Unblemished Lamb.

Jesus was born, for the purpose of dying.

When He was killed on the cross that day....
He did that for the sins that I have done.
He did it for your sin, doggysteps.

This was real love.
You will never know of a greater love.

So, Jesus did this for the sins of man.
But.... it is not automatic.
Not every man walking the earth is saved from their sin.

Do I acknoeledge that Jesus was indeed the Son of God?
Do I acknowledge that I am a sinner...
that I have sinned against a Holy God?
Do I believe that when Jesus died on the cross, ...that He took the punishment for my sin?
Have I repented of my sin?
Have I turned from my sin?

If one is able to acknowledge these things....
then one is cleansed from the eternal consequences of their sin.
When they leave earth (die)....their soul will go immediately to Heaven with God.

My friend, this is the Good News !
This is Christianity.
This is how much God loves you !!!

We must not jump into the Good News...
without realizing that we have a part in the Bad News.

Our sin is real.
God is real.
His love is real.

We can try to figure out things in the Bible.....
but things are often very hard to understand,

Ahhhh..... there is more.
When we have our sins cleansed by acknowledging what Jesus did for us.....
it is at that very moment that God sends the Holy Spirit to live in us.
Yup.
A Believer has the Holy Spirit in them.
And....it is the Holy Spirit that allows a Believer to understand the things of God, that we read in the Bible.

Everything begins to make sense.

So....Doggysteps,
I would recommend that you think on this Good News/Bad News for a while.
It is the place to start.

Perhaps visit with your boyfriend about this News.

I know that he would love to visit with you about it.

Have a Great Day !

 

[heron]

oh... i guess i'll have to explain a little bit to do him justice. he really wasn't intimidating me, although that's how i felt and that's why we had a fight. but afterwards, when we had a heart to heart talk, i did come to understand that he's frustrated and he said something he didn't really mean to. i'm usually very sensitive to his feelings but yesterday i was quite blunt too. so i certainly should allow him the chance for mistakes too. at the end of the day, i still love him and i know (not just because i love him) that he loves me and cares for me very much.

doggysteps, sorry to make assumptions. I just see too many people giving up their Selves when dating, and then getting stuck in patterns they can't clamber out of later. And we Christians tend to stand by the Word as rightness for ourselves, forgetting how it impacts others. I'm glad you're working this out together. He does sound like a nice guy... certainly conscientious!
(-:

 

[TexasGirl06]

....and when Jesus was killed on the cross,
they took Him down from the cross and buried Him in a tomb.

On the third day He came to life again.

After the Risen Jesus was witnessed by hundreds of folks....

He Ascended into Heaven, which is where He is at this very moment.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.... you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

 

[doggysteps]

happy birthday washedclean.. and thanks for all the messages, texasgirl and heron. i don't know what it is with me, but i just can't take all that in. maybe i'm not putting enough effort into this.

 

[Jonathon]

I understand how you feel. I myself have someone who is very special to me who is also a christian. I love her very much and she really cares for me, but seeing how I was not a christian at the time or even yet it was decided that she would not date me. In all of my life I been a highly religious person and I have never dated, kissed, or have done anything with anyone. I let god guide me in the direction that I needed to go and he brought me to her. At the time I did not know it but later after seeing that her heart was to god as well he showed me what I needed to do. Today me and her are of course very much inlove and still not dating or anything but I myself am on the rode to becoming a christian, and I am very greatful that he have shown me the road that I took. If you search yourself you will find that he is talking to you aswell and leading you more than one road, but it is up to you to decide and feel what you must do.

 

[InnocentOdion]

happy birthday washedclean.. and thanks for all the messages, texasgirl and heron. i don't know what it is with me, but i just can't take all that in. maybe i'm not putting enough effort into this.

Hi doggysteps. Sorry to hear about your relationship problems.


Are you willing to love others unconditionally, and forgive them for what they have done wrong to you?

I'm sure your boyfriend loves you very dearly. Don't let pride get in the way of love. Think long and hard. Is a religion of love and forgiveness that bad?

Do you want to be loved?
God loves you. Will you give Him your love?

 

[WashedClean]

happy birthday washedclean...

Thanks!

and thanks for all the messages, texasgirl and heron. i don't know what it is with me, but i just can't take all that in. maybe i'm not putting enough effort into this.

It's overwhelming, isn't it? To think of all that God has done for us, it's almost too good to be true. Oh, but it IS true. Like TexasGirl said, you will never know a greater love than the love of Jesus. All you have to do is surrender to him, tell him you're tired of living your life on your own terms. Turn from your sin and run to his arms. Sounds too simplistic? Yes, it is simple. Jesus said we need to come to him with simple, childlike faith. Man loves to complicate everything, but in essence, we just need to put a little faith in Him, and He will water that seed of faith.

Sorry if we all seem a bit pushy, we just want you to know the love of Jesus.

 

[doggysteps]

hi!
i haven't been here for a while because my boyfriend came back and we've been together all the time and things are going great between us. i'm so sorry i have totally forgotten about this forum.
but i do have some good news to share... i didn't see this coming at all, but a few hours ago, i accepted Christ!
i remembered this forum and wanted to share my joy with you guys who kindly gave me advice and words of encouragement. i still don't know what to feel about all this but my boyfriend and i are just over-joyed. i hope you will be happy for me too.
there's still a long way ahead. but i'm so much more confident now that i have opened up my heart to Him.
thanks again for your kindness and prayers!

 

[InnocentOdion]

Hallelujah! God is so great! Welcome to the family, my sister. May you grow stronger in faith. Keep us informed of how things are going.

 

[heron]

A few hours ago!!! Thanks for making us some of the first to hear it! That's so nice of you.

I hope everything's going well for you now. Your bf must be happy. (-;

Welcome to the family! You can change your seeker icon, ha ha. Or just remain mysterious.

 

[InnocentOdion]

A few hours ago!!! Thanks for making us some of the first to hear it! That's so nice of you.

I hope everything's going well for you now. Your bf must be happy. (-;

Welcome to the family! You can change your seeker icon, ha ha. Or just remain mysterious.

Haha, amen.
However, I think she needs 15 posts or something like that before she can change her faith icon, right?

doggysteps, I am so happy for you, and I know that you will love being in the biggest family on Earth with God as your Father.

 

[starelda]

hi!
i haven't been here for a while because my boyfriend came back and we've been together all the time and things are going great between us. i'm so sorry i have totally forgotten about this forum.
but i do have some good news to share... i didn't see this coming at all, but a few hours ago, i accepted Christ!
i remembered this forum and wanted to share my joy with you guys who kindly gave me advice and words of encouragement. i still don't know what to feel about all this but my boyfriend and i are just over-joyed. i hope you will be happy for me too.
there's still a long way ahead. but i'm so much more confident now that i have opened up my heart to Him.
thanks again for your kindness and prayers!

Hello again
I'm the person previously known as Jedidah (I went back to an old username after losing faith...long story). But anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm glad to hear that things are going well for you and your boyfriend

 

[heron]

Starelda, I thought you'd been Starelda forever. Secret revealed.
(-:

 

[doggysteps]

thank you everyone, for welcoming me to the family
ever since that day, i've been able to pray a lot, which i wasn't really used to do before. and i've even gotten my prayers answered! (little things like please keep me awake during sermon...! haha) but still, it's great! i still have a lot more to learn and i should really read the bible too.

dear starelda, i won't ask what the long story is, but i wish the best for you. be strong!

happy easter everyone!

 

[Reptoid]

I met my current boyfriend a year ago and we just had this chemistry and we started dating rather soon. He knew I was not a Christian, and beeing a responsible person that he is, he did suggest early on that we do not continue the relationship. (okay, my Christian friends did say that if he were really responsible, then he should not have started it at the first place. But what to do now...) We did actually break up (on good terms) a couple of times, but who knew our feelings were just so strong, that we always ended up back together. Now we've been going out for a year, and I have been going to church and bible studies with him on a regular basis. I don't want to become a Christian simply because he is and I want to be with him, but he is definitely a reason why I am seeking again.

I don't understand how someone can truly love a person but at the same time just nonchalantly break-up because of some religious difference. If he can't respect the fact that you are a non-believer and keeps playing these break up games, I can't help but think that you would be doing yourself a favor by finding someone else.

 

[heron]

i've even gotten my prayers answered! (little things like please keep me awake during sermon...! haha)

Yeah, there seem to be some prayers that He answers faster than others. (-; That's great!!!

Dating is so tricky -- it's a time when you want to be honest, but sometimes honesty and directness hurts people you love (breaking up when you're not sure), and everyone expects the other person to have it all under control.

It's horribly painful to face repeated breakups. Just remember that it's better to go through it now than after legal and financial commitments are made.

Leaving Christianity out of the picture, he might just be someone who isn't used to having another person so involved in his life. Or since you mention he's a responsible person, maybe he gets nervous when everything is not in perfect order. There are so many reasons that people break up, and it's often not about disliking the other person.

I think it has more to do with disliking who you become when you are with the other person. (Busier, less predictable days, more lax/more driven...).