I have been a Christian since I was old enough to understand to concept of Jesus, and an on fire for God born again true or Spirit filled (whatever you want to call it) Christian for around five years. Here are some things that I have learned from my limited experience.
Guilt is not from God:
Until a couple of years ago I got guilt confused with conviction. I thought that if I was feeling guilty then I must have done something wrong. But I now know that guilt is not from God, it is from your own mind, or the devil, who is the accuser. Although sometimes guilt can be useful, it is usually best to ignore it (unless you know that youre doing something wrong), epically that low level guilt that often creeps up on you whenever you take a break, telling
you that your being lazy.
God wants to be your friend:
The reason God created us was to be friends with us. I often used to forget that and instead thought that the meaning of Christianity was to try and do good things to impress Him. I believe that God wants friends much more than He wants people who do good things in His Name. The problem with sin isnt even the sin, it is the distraction from your relationship with God that is the problem. Some people say that each time you sin it hurts Jesus a little bit more, thats not true. The enemy wants you to think that God is mad at you, that you havent been good enough for Him. Dont believe that, it is a lie.
Lust is not actually a thing:
Many Christians hold the belief that looking at a girl in a sexual way is wrong. This belief is based on Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Unfortunately the word lust has sexual connotations in modern English, the word that has been translated to lust from Greek does not have sexual connotations, and in fact a better translation for that word would be desire. Anyone reading Matthew 5:28 who doesnt know this would be correct to assume that it is wrong to look at a girl in a sexual way. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Perhaps a better interpretation would be that Jesus was telling men not to desire to be with another woman. Epically since the context of this passage is adultery.
Not following God is boring:
Life seems pointless sometimes. Sometimes you will be slightly depressed and feeling like there is no purpose for your existence. I have noticed that these times often come when I have been ignoring my spiritual life. This is not the only cause of these feelings but it is defiantly one of them. One day, I (for some reason) decided that I was trying too hard to be spiritual, so I decided to only pray and read the Bible if I really wanted to. The result of this was that I was feeling down for most of the week. After that I resumed my normal spiritual life, not out of guilt or even love for God but simply because its more fun being with God.
Sometimes there is no obvious right thing to do:
I used to spend long periods of time trying to work out the exact right thing to do in every situation in my life. I did this because I was very scared of sinning without knowing it. Fortunately I learned to trust that God would correct me where I was wrong. I am much more peaceful because of that. Isaiah 30:21: If you stray to the right or the left, you will hear a word that comes from behind you: This is the way; walk in it. We as humans have a limited capacity to understand right from wrong, and we are often confused by our feelings and the enemys lies. Fortunately we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. So dont worry about accidentally doing the wrong thing, instead ask God to guide you, make a well-reasoned decision and forget about it.
Dont try to understand the Bible all at once:
The Bible is not a list of rules that can be read and followed immediately. A better approach is to read it regularly and allow the Holy Spirit to apply it to your life and change your heart. Some things you wont understand for many years, perhaps that means youre not ready to learn that lesson yet.
Try to avoid adding extra rules to your life:
We have an annoying habit of inventing sins. These include Drinking, gambling, smoking, dancing, going to parties, hand holding before marriage (and the like), rock music, halloween, dressing provocatively and wearing makeup. I believed initially that a few of these things were wrong, but as I have grown as a Christian I have found out that these things are not forbidden in the Bible and that they are not sins in themselves. People also add other, more personal unnecessary rules to themselves, which when taken too rigidly can be harmful. I believe that the Bible is pretty comprehensive with its list of everything that is sinful, we dont need to add to the rules that God has already given us.
Preachers seem to think that Praying, reading the Bible and trusting God is the answer to everything, they are right:
Have you ever been feeling down one day, feeling that your relationship with God needs some work or been have been having some other problem? Sometime we go onto the internet and google: how to be a better Christian, how to achieve victory in your daily walk with Christ how can I make my problem go away as a Christian. Only to find the same old advice; pray, read the Bible and to trust Gods plan. (or other such advice that basically amounts to the same thing, perhaps a Bible verse telling you to trust God will be offered) Those things may not sound very exciting, but they are how we grow as Christians. There is not normally any magic advice that can solve your problem, but by doing those things you will gain more than you think. They are the three most helpful things that you can do in any situation.
Suppressing anger is not harmful:
One of the most popular pieces of psychology is the idea that suppressing or blocking out anger will cause said anger to explode out of you later on. The advice offered by psychology is to let your anger out in a constructive way. This is very good advice, however some people take this as an excuse to gossip about and be moody at whoever is causing the anger, often excusing themselves by thinking I have to let my anger out so it doesnt build up inside me. The Bible says: A fool utters all his anger; but a wise man keeps it back and stills it. (Proverbs: 29:11). I believe that this is the Biblical way of dealing with anger. We dont have to let out all our anger in order to stop it building up, but we need to make sure to still it, and make it quiet. Expressing anger can be constructive or destructive, depending on what you do and say. Suppressing anger would be to keep thinking about what made you angry without doing anything about it, this is very harmful. Stilling your anger is choosing to let it go, move on and forgive. Humans have a lot of leeway to control their feelings by what they are thinking. And what we are thinking is a choice. We often forget that it is wrong to be angry at someone. (Not something, but a person) But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Jesus. I have had serous anger problems in the past, which, thanks to God, I have overcome. Stilling my anger has been much more effective than expressing it, and has done me no harm.
Guilt is not from God:
Until a couple of years ago I got guilt confused with conviction. I thought that if I was feeling guilty then I must have done something wrong. But I now know that guilt is not from God, it is from your own mind, or the devil, who is the accuser. Although sometimes guilt can be useful, it is usually best to ignore it (unless you know that youre doing something wrong), epically that low level guilt that often creeps up on you whenever you take a break, telling
you that your being lazy.
God wants to be your friend:
The reason God created us was to be friends with us. I often used to forget that and instead thought that the meaning of Christianity was to try and do good things to impress Him. I believe that God wants friends much more than He wants people who do good things in His Name. The problem with sin isnt even the sin, it is the distraction from your relationship with God that is the problem. Some people say that each time you sin it hurts Jesus a little bit more, thats not true. The enemy wants you to think that God is mad at you, that you havent been good enough for Him. Dont believe that, it is a lie.
Lust is not actually a thing:
Many Christians hold the belief that looking at a girl in a sexual way is wrong. This belief is based on Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Unfortunately the word lust has sexual connotations in modern English, the word that has been translated to lust from Greek does not have sexual connotations, and in fact a better translation for that word would be desire. Anyone reading Matthew 5:28 who doesnt know this would be correct to assume that it is wrong to look at a girl in a sexual way. But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Perhaps a better interpretation would be that Jesus was telling men not to desire to be with another woman. Epically since the context of this passage is adultery.
Not following God is boring:
Life seems pointless sometimes. Sometimes you will be slightly depressed and feeling like there is no purpose for your existence. I have noticed that these times often come when I have been ignoring my spiritual life. This is not the only cause of these feelings but it is defiantly one of them. One day, I (for some reason) decided that I was trying too hard to be spiritual, so I decided to only pray and read the Bible if I really wanted to. The result of this was that I was feeling down for most of the week. After that I resumed my normal spiritual life, not out of guilt or even love for God but simply because its more fun being with God.
Sometimes there is no obvious right thing to do:
I used to spend long periods of time trying to work out the exact right thing to do in every situation in my life. I did this because I was very scared of sinning without knowing it. Fortunately I learned to trust that God would correct me where I was wrong. I am much more peaceful because of that. Isaiah 30:21: If you stray to the right or the left, you will hear a word that comes from behind you: This is the way; walk in it. We as humans have a limited capacity to understand right from wrong, and we are often confused by our feelings and the enemys lies. Fortunately we have the Holy Spirit to guide us. So dont worry about accidentally doing the wrong thing, instead ask God to guide you, make a well-reasoned decision and forget about it.
Dont try to understand the Bible all at once:
The Bible is not a list of rules that can be read and followed immediately. A better approach is to read it regularly and allow the Holy Spirit to apply it to your life and change your heart. Some things you wont understand for many years, perhaps that means youre not ready to learn that lesson yet.
Try to avoid adding extra rules to your life:
We have an annoying habit of inventing sins. These include Drinking, gambling, smoking, dancing, going to parties, hand holding before marriage (and the like), rock music, halloween, dressing provocatively and wearing makeup. I believed initially that a few of these things were wrong, but as I have grown as a Christian I have found out that these things are not forbidden in the Bible and that they are not sins in themselves. People also add other, more personal unnecessary rules to themselves, which when taken too rigidly can be harmful. I believe that the Bible is pretty comprehensive with its list of everything that is sinful, we dont need to add to the rules that God has already given us.
Preachers seem to think that Praying, reading the Bible and trusting God is the answer to everything, they are right:
Have you ever been feeling down one day, feeling that your relationship with God needs some work or been have been having some other problem? Sometime we go onto the internet and google: how to be a better Christian, how to achieve victory in your daily walk with Christ how can I make my problem go away as a Christian. Only to find the same old advice; pray, read the Bible and to trust Gods plan. (or other such advice that basically amounts to the same thing, perhaps a Bible verse telling you to trust God will be offered) Those things may not sound very exciting, but they are how we grow as Christians. There is not normally any magic advice that can solve your problem, but by doing those things you will gain more than you think. They are the three most helpful things that you can do in any situation.
Suppressing anger is not harmful:
One of the most popular pieces of psychology is the idea that suppressing or blocking out anger will cause said anger to explode out of you later on. The advice offered by psychology is to let your anger out in a constructive way. This is very good advice, however some people take this as an excuse to gossip about and be moody at whoever is causing the anger, often excusing themselves by thinking I have to let my anger out so it doesnt build up inside me. The Bible says: A fool utters all his anger; but a wise man keeps it back and stills it. (Proverbs: 29:11). I believe that this is the Biblical way of dealing with anger. We dont have to let out all our anger in order to stop it building up, but we need to make sure to still it, and make it quiet. Expressing anger can be constructive or destructive, depending on what you do and say. Suppressing anger would be to keep thinking about what made you angry without doing anything about it, this is very harmful. Stilling your anger is choosing to let it go, move on and forgive. Humans have a lot of leeway to control their feelings by what they are thinking. And what we are thinking is a choice. We often forget that it is wrong to be angry at someone. (Not something, but a person) But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Jesus. I have had serous anger problems in the past, which, thanks to God, I have overcome. Stilling my anger has been much more effective than expressing it, and has done me no harm.
That is the Grace of God.
