Yeah I had to give up a few of those as well. I guess giving up my favorite hobby was the hardest though.
Downloading err slightly pirated stuff would be one of mine. I had to get my first christian mp3s that way - as I couldnt find them anywhere legit (and when I found one on iTunes which i installed just to download this band, the horrible nasty software took my $$ and failed half way thru the download and then would not redownload as it thought i hd the song, I am now considering seriously, pirating the songs I want, then going and 'paying' for them via iTunes, without the hassle of actually downloading them from there.
On that note anyone who has good links to download from a wide range of contemporary christian artists feel free to send me them
- by that i mean places where i can pay for the music and then know i can actually download it, or where it is a free legal download. I have also brought 4 CDs inthe last 3 or so weeks (which is more than i brought in the last 10+ years prior - still at a loss for christian karaoke/singstar stuff though - as there is not much i can find to actually pay for
I still drink what i suspect is far too much wine (when the bible says a drunk - what do they mean? I believe Jesus drank real wine, and probably more than a glass on some occasions - i realise some people dont, not withing to debate that so much as ask the christians who also believe that jesus did on occasion drink wine and did turn the water into wine about the definition and discussions around alcohol consumption in the bible).
All the definitions of a drunk in the bible seem to involve lewd thoughts and all sorts of other stuff that seem to me, to mean a person who is either not in control of their physical actions and what they say, and/or is liable to make decisions they would not sober -ie sleep with people they would not when sober, that sort of thing - the really obvious drunk stuff.
So its obvious if a person drinks till they are slurring or falling over/throwing up. or if they drink and then are either thinking about or actually doing, sinful things, that this is a sin - and its easy to determine that because a person will know what the likely outcome will be for them if they drink a certain amount of alcohol (or take certain drugs etc). And obviously if a person is drinking in a way that has an impact on someone else negatively, then it is a sin
What about people who drink a reasonable amount of alcohol (more than a glass or two) but who do not get 'drunk' ie are never in any doubt about their moral and ethical standards, never in danger of falling over, being sick, slurring etc. I may be reading these topics with a subconscious bias (i probably am!) but i have not found anything in the bible that does say whether it is wrong to drink alcohol 'heavily' if it is not having any of the impacts of drunkeness that are described I have prayed about this and not had an answer (or if i have i have not been able to hear/discern it)
And what about the drinkers that feel closer to god sometimes after a few, or the people who 'converted' when drunk (I was not drinking when I accepted christ - but i have heard stories of people who have opened up to god when drunk, who by the sounds of it would not have if they were sober)
On one side drugs and alcohol are a doorway for satan i am told, other christians have said that drugs and alcohol are not specifically a door for satan, but simply open ppl up to the spiritual world and therefore the bad side of that.
Anyway im rambling on, the other things i have given up are swearing (for the most part) I now find i dont like to hear it, and try and avoid saying it except when really p-ssed off. Also the way I speak to people, and treat them I think (hope) has changed and my reaction to people being abusive toward each other (people i dont know i mean like maybe seeing a couple having a big argument) upsets me when before it was like oh year shuddup ... and i didnt really care or think about what was happening any more than that.
I dont think any of the last paragraph is 'giving up' though - I dont miss any of the attitudes i have changed and feel the new attitudes are a real gift
OH yeah, I am single right now, and often thankful of that - because if i were not single, well the whole no sex till marriage thing, I am sure that would be a major struggle for me. I also think that must be hard for new christians who are in a sexual relationship - especially if only one becomes a christian. I think that must be much harder to deal with giving up than any of the things I need to sort out.
Have others found that with a lot of sins, that when you stopped or repented, that the way god kinda puts it on you, it does not feel at all like a telling off or a lecture? Its more like your (cliche as it sounds) eyes are opened, and you can just see what is so wrong about that thing, and you are honestly thankful that you have been shown this? I had a number of things where that happened (and I am the most self righteous stubborn, unresponsive and unable to take criticism person me and most people I know, know. So thats one thing that amazes me about god, how he can disclipline me and make my sins so clear to me, but in such a way that there is no lecture, no telling off. While most people would find no matter how they tried to tell me something i was doing was wrong, I would probably get defensive and not want to accept it. yet when god does it, it is like a gift of understanding, that he gives not a lecture, and my own mind connects the dots and realises why something is wrong...
Have any other new christians had this experience?
