Will this help me?

[shawn838]

All I want is to become a better person. More than that, I want to become a good person. I want to learn to love. To control my anger and sometimes, hate. I want to treat people the way I would like to be treated and if a God exists, I want to learn about him. If he is good, I want to emulate him.

I just want to be good, especially towards my friends, family and girlfriend.

Can Christianity teach me this? What if I don't believe in it, at least at first? Can a person come in to this religion seeking only what I have stated, and come out having found/learned these things?

I am not concerned with 'salvation' or any other thing. I just want to become a better person.

Thank you for any replies.

 

[drich0150]

I am not concerned with 'salvation' or any other thing. I just want to become a better person.

Being a "better" person is just a matter of perspective.. One can think he is a "better person" if the quality of people he hangs around is worse than his own.. And he will not have actually changed anything.. But still he will be "better" than his friends..

So you can technically become a "better person" with out God. True Christianity actually teaches no matter how Good we are we will never be "good" enough to live up to God's perfect standard. Christianity is a life style devoted to overcoming one's own version of personal righteousness, and to live as closely as we can to God's ultimate righteousness. Not as a way to obtain salvation, but as a way of manifesting our love and devotion to him.. In doing so we become aware of our own short comings and pit falls. Once we are aware of them, we learn to live in God's grace, to over come them. By being forgiven our lager debts to him, we in turn as a measure of love learn to forgive the much smaller debts owed to us by other people..

This whole process makes you a ''better person'' Kinda by default. Not in a way that most people initially seek to be, but in accordance to God's holy standard of what it is to be a "Better person." This all comes at a price, and that is to have and maintain a relationship with him, along with that comes salvation, and "Christian" perspective..

But, know Christianity isn't something to be obtained for others, at it's core is a deeply personal relationship between you and your God.. If this is not at the heart of what you seek, then you will most likely fail.. It's not to say you are guaranteed to fail.. I myself started to goto church, because it was a condition of dating this Girl. But the reason I stayed in church was because deep down My heart knew it needed God more than anything that girl had to offer, and when she left I stayed... So again it not what your doing that counts it's why your doing it.

 

[Radagast]

All I want is to become a better person. More than that, I want to become a good person. I want to learn to love. To control my anger and sometimes, hate. I want to treat people the way I would like to be treated and if a God exists, I want to learn about him. If he is good, I want to emulate him.

I just want to be good, especially towards my friends, family and girlfriend.

Can Christianity teach me this? What if I don't believe in it, at least at first? Can a person come in to this religion seeking only what I have stated, and come out having found/learned these things?

I think so... though only if you ultimately accept more of Christianity than that.

I would suggest reading CS Lewis' little book Mere Christianity.

God bless you,

-- Radagast

 

[HopingForJesus]

I recently have re-affirmed my relationship with God in Christ to be a better wife, and to be a better person overall, including how I handle things and treat myself. Salvation is a bonus if you believe in, love, and follow Jesus. He makes us strong despite our wordly ways. No matter what, May God bless you on your journey

 

[solarwave]

Yes, I think that Christianity can teach these things and that you can come seeking a better life and find God. Christianity teaches loving God, loving others and to focus on the important things in life.

 

[Notedstrangeperson]

It's fine to help someone without actually loving them. People help strangers all the time. I'm not sure how to tell you to become a more 'loving' person but becoming a good person means helping others, even if you don't like them or they don't like you.

The link between this idea and Christianity are seen in examples such as "Love thy enemy" and the story of the Good Samaritan.

I would give a more detailed reply but I'm too lazy.

 

[hlaltimus]

All I want is to become a better person. More than that, I want to become a good person. I want to learn to love. To control my anger and sometimes, hate. I want to treat people the way I would like to be treated and if a God exists, I want to learn about him. If he is good, I want to emulate him.

I just want to be good, especially towards my friends, family and girlfriend.

Can Christianity teach me this? What if I don't believe in it, at least at first? Can a person come in to this religion seeking only what I have stated, and come out having found/learned these things?

I am not concerned with 'salvation' or any other thing. I just want to become a better person.

Thank you for any replies.

Don't be overly downcast and pessimistic about wherever you happen to be at the moment, as long as your face is pointed toward the Lord God our Creator. The only place you can ever start from is where happen to be ethically speaking, and where you are is where you must start from in this virtuous search for "love" that seems to be on your heart. Guard this desire jealously and sacrifice anything else of inferior value for the sake of learning about this mighty God and whatever that "love" was that initially enticed Him into salvaging our otherwise hopeless race and restoring it to whatever Adam had lost by his fall.

There's probably a whole bunch of "What if?" questions that might be assailing your mind right now about what you might be getting into if you chose to seek the God of the historical Christians and ancient Jews, and I sure hope that you won't throw in the towel on this search ever. Start where so many others have started: Prayer. Pray, but be certain that you are praying sincerely when you ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you, which he typically does by enlightening the mind by convictions of "sin, righteousness and judgment" as Christ said that the Holy Spirit would in the John's gospel. Also:

"You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" John 8:32

Capitalize upon this one, solitary scripture and you will find in it a rather small doorway, but one which will ultimately open up into a vast, new and wonderful world of joy, peace, righteousness, and especially...LOVE.

When Adam and Eve sinned, the very roof of hell could have come crashing down upon their heads....but it didn't, and the single reason why it didn't come mercilessly down upon them can be expressed in that solitary and beautiful word, Love.

 

[salida]

drich0150 explained this very well.

Also, in Gods eyes no one is good except Jesus. Why? He was the only one who kept the 10 Commandments all the time 100% of the time. This is why mankind needs a personal Lord and Savior. Its the only spiritual medicine to cure our fallen nature.

I suggest you visit, Are you a good person? www.livingwaters.com/good/ Again, the word good is subjective. By what standard does one consider themselves good? Mans standard is different from Gods standard.

Christianity is a life long choice and life style; as we let God do his perfect will for our life.

 

[Johnnz]

Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with Jesus where you become part of a partnership and share lives together.

John
NZ

 

[Soul_Searcher]

Hi Shawn,

"I just want to be good, especially towards my friends, family and girlfriend.
Can Christianity teach me this? "

It can if you're ready to honestly look at yourself. As you read the Gospels (because I believe that's all you really need, the words of Jesus) think about the things he's talking about, forgiveness, acceptance, humility, sacrifice. What are the words saying to you? What is your heart hearing?

Above all, you have to be able to love and accept yourself, or you will struggle to love and accept others. When you accept yourself, when you know who you are, then you can accept others for who they are, for they then pose no threat to you, and it is most often that perceived threat, that fear, that causes us to hurt others.

I wish you well on your journey.

 

[Lion-Of-Zion]

Why not just focus on being a good Agnostic person?
For some reason it bothers me when people seek to gain something by finding God/spirituality. We should thank and praise Him for his creations and works. Not the other way around.

"Above all, you have to be able to love and accept yourself, or you will struggle to love and accept others. When you accept yourself, when you know who you are, then you can accept others for who they are, for they then pose no threat to you, and it is most often that perceived threat, that fear, that causes us to hurt others." <-- outstanding words of wisdom. All I can add to that is get to know yourself. For how can you correct yourself if you dont know yourself?