Why...........

[penguinfacesnorth]

I'm not even sure if this is the right place to post this question but let me try anyway........ I've been viewing this forum for a few weeks now and have learned some interesting things. I just have a few questions, well the main one is why are you a Christian? I was having this discussion last night with a friend and they calimed that my understanding of why others chose to become Christians was wrong. I then started to think she might be right, so I figured why not ask and see if my view is the wrong one. My intention is not to offend anyone by asking, I'm just trying to find out if I am looking at the issue all wrong and need to change my view so if you want to take the time to answer that would be great. thanks

 

[2Timothy2]

Why am I a Christian?

I came to understand that I was a sinner. This condition separated me from God and there was nothing I could do to fix this. I knew that, because of this condition, sin, and this separation, I would spend eternity apart from God and in Hell. All of this played a part in my putting my trust in what Jesus did for me on the cross. I was only seven at the time, so my understanding wasn't a deep theological one. But it was enough to have faith.

I guess it came down to understanding what I was, what that meant, and what Christ did for me to change all that. But it wasn't me that did something to be a Christian, that was all God. It is all Him, we just put our trust in what He promises to do. So, I'm a Christian because I believe that Jesus paid for my sins on the cross.

 

[chickenfeet]

my reasoning might be lame.. but its why i became a christian.

i needed hope, love, and a sense of belonging.

i am finding that thru Christ. prior to getting saved i walked the streets alone.. i was afraid. i had no one.

i still am scared and alone.. but now at the end of the day.. in times of turmoil.. i turn to God for hope.. & guidance... it somehow makes me feel whole again.. when b4 i was just a shell.

 

[wildthing]

I look at a lot of religions. Many of them talk about coming back if I didn't get it right the first time. I do not want to have to come back a second or third or how many times it takes to get it right. The Christian beleilf is that you only live once. And that God's only son paid for my wrongness (sins) If God's son paid the debt why would I want to come back for a second or third time... God promised me eternal life if I accept his gift... I did and now I live with the promise of eternal life and not having to worry about coming back.

 

[kelco]

I guess I've always been a loner, mostly by choice and I have done alot of things in my life that I regret. The only place I can find any sort of peace and acceptance is in the arms of my savior Jesus Christ. The thing that convinced me was this verse: Joh 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. He has made good on that promise and one day I won't be a misfit anymore.

 

[Living4Him03]

I understand that I fall short of God's glory...so short that there was a huge gap between us. I came to understand He wants a relationship with me and sent His Son so that I can have one. I came to understand that God loves me more than I could ever imagine. I've come to know the joy of understanding that I don't have to beg God to love me...I can approach him with freedom and with confidence (that's in Ephesians, by the way)...He's always been there waiting for me, waiting to show me His glory. I can't imagine not being a Christian. Life would be dead and worthless. There are so many reasons why.

 

[traingosorry]

For me, I was sick of being let down by people all around me.
God promised He would never leave me - and so far he has kept his promise!

 

[invisiblebabe]

'cause i first intuitively and much later intellectually/philosophically knew it was the Truth.

 

[paging_jonah]

I was raised up from childhood as a Christian.

 

[Kepa]

Why am I a Christian? Because I couldn't be anything else. He chose me in him before the foundation of the world, that I would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined me to adoption as a son through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on me in the Beloved. (Ephesians 4-6)
Nothing I could have done could have saved me (Romans 9:11), my carnal mind was an enemy towards God (Romans 8:7). Only He could save me by His grace through faith which He gave as a gift (Ephesians 2:8)

 

[KeilCoppes]

Experientially, I grew up in the home of a Christian pastor and was pretty much obedient on the outside, but the inside wasn't there. 'Round about the time I was 18, my world started changing and I started to read some more things in the faith and see people really dealing with the things around them. Fairly soon after that we started going through major trials in the church and in my life. In each of them I found the Lord bringing my heart back from despair, worry, and fear and bringing me more and more to trust in Him. I had repented and believed in my head earlier, but this even more set things deeply in my heart. I saw His work directly in my life and the work of His Spirit in my heart. I keep coming back to the confession of Peter - "Where will we go, Lord? For You alone have the words of life."

Also, God's word in the Bible matches what I see in life and then offers true and lasting hope even in the valley of the shadow of death. Without the God of the Bible, none of reality makes sense, and even those who don't believe require His sustaining in creation to even exist.

Ultimately it was the work of the Spirit changing my heart and bringing me out of outwardly obedient blindness. I thank the Lord that He will never leave or forsake me. He is true, though every man be a liar. He is faithful when all men are faithless.

 

[renaistre]

I'm not a theologian, and I’m not quite sure what I think about how much choice I had in the matter, but I can say this: I don’t think I have a choice now. I’m one of God’s children, and I don’t think he would let me go even if I wanted to run away, which, of course, I don’t. Oh, sure I could (and do) run off and get myself into a lot of trouble for a while, but I know he would never let me get away completely.

I think what you probably meant was more along the lines of “why did you become a Christian?” I first prayed for Christ to live in me when I was five or six. I think I really was a Christian from then on, but I sort of made my own decision (apart from just my upbringing) when I was 13 or so. I knew from experience by then that God was really there, and that he was the one really in control of things, and that I should do things his way.

So at its most fundamental level, I guess you could say that I became a Christian out of an obligation to God. Thankfully, he is good and just and all that, so becoming a Christian was also an attractive and joyful thing.

 

[penguinfacesnorth]

Thanks for all of your answers