Heart Broken
Well I would like to believe that I stop and question life every once in a while but today's sermon brought up a lot of questions about how I should be living my life. I know, the sirens are probably going off inside your head since I mentioned SERMON! Yes, this is a church related journal entry, but I think you should just hear me out on this one.
I was never raised with a Christian, or religious background at all for that matter. It wasn't until I was in 7th grade that I was brought to Christ (and I am willing to share my testimony to whoever wants to hear it). It wasn't until freshman year of high school that I believed the story of Jesus and how he had died for me. Through out high school, I then tried my very best to live the ideal Christian lifestyle, which did include reading and studying the Bible. Even though I have gone over hundreds of passages, I can not remember them all off the top of my head but there are many that I can recall studying. Today's passage was 2Corinthians 6:14, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers," basically saying that believers and non-believers are not compatible. Pastor Steve went through his message, saying how Christians and non-Christians have very different lifestyles and ideals. There are the non-Christians who feel more open to drink, gamble, having pre-marital sex and other "ways of the world" that cause people to fall in to sin. God says that in marriage, only believers should be with believers, and the same goes for business partners, just because of the similar ideals. I know it seems kind of stupid, but I feel as if I am seeing it a lot better as I am growing up and going through college. Even with some of my best friends, I struggle in trying to keep my cool and not get so frustrated over the little things. But it may be that those "little things" that I can't control, where some of my friends, non-believers, and I, a believer, will never be able to see eye to eye on based on our different ideals.
So what is my whole point?! Well my whole point is, how do I tell unbelievers, especially friends that I care SO much about that I want to save their life? Well, when I put it that way, of course practically everyone would want to know. But if I mention religion, people tend to shut their minds off to what I have to say and shy away from the situation. For instance, I was talking to Brandon one day while he was working and we happened to brief on the subject of religion. Pearl, a co-worker, pitched out that Brandon should go to church with me one time or something along those lines, and Brandon just didn't say much and changed the subject. So how do you tell your unbelieving friends about Jesus when they just don't want to hear it? Sure, a lot of people know the story of Jesus, basically God in a bod who came down to Earth and died to save all of mankind, but there are so many people who just don't believe that Jesus is the Savior. And if you bring up the subject too many times, people start to think you are a religious quack or something! The last thing I want to do is to scare off someone from Christianity. What I want is for people to learn and grow in Christ on their own terms in their own time.
I know religion is a very touchy subject and people have their own opinions, but I just hope that non-believers would just have open minds about Christ. Jesus is my personal Savior and I wouldn't be able to go through my trials and errors with out Him. He is my rock and He is always there to catch me when I fall. It is Him I put my trust in, till the end of my days. I hope to inspire non-believers, where they would one day be able to look at me and wonder, "what is that girl's secret to her happiness?" where then I would respond it is because of God. Someday, that moment will come but for now, I will just go on living my life, honoring the Lord the best that I can.
I was never raised with a Christian, or religious background at all for that matter. It wasn't until I was in 7th grade that I was brought to Christ (and I am willing to share my testimony to whoever wants to hear it). It wasn't until freshman year of high school that I believed the story of Jesus and how he had died for me. Through out high school, I then tried my very best to live the ideal Christian lifestyle, which did include reading and studying the Bible. Even though I have gone over hundreds of passages, I can not remember them all off the top of my head but there are many that I can recall studying. Today's passage was 2Corinthians 6:14, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers," basically saying that believers and non-believers are not compatible. Pastor Steve went through his message, saying how Christians and non-Christians have very different lifestyles and ideals. There are the non-Christians who feel more open to drink, gamble, having pre-marital sex and other "ways of the world" that cause people to fall in to sin. God says that in marriage, only believers should be with believers, and the same goes for business partners, just because of the similar ideals. I know it seems kind of stupid, but I feel as if I am seeing it a lot better as I am growing up and going through college. Even with some of my best friends, I struggle in trying to keep my cool and not get so frustrated over the little things. But it may be that those "little things" that I can't control, where some of my friends, non-believers, and I, a believer, will never be able to see eye to eye on based on our different ideals.
So what is my whole point?! Well my whole point is, how do I tell unbelievers, especially friends that I care SO much about that I want to save their life? Well, when I put it that way, of course practically everyone would want to know. But if I mention religion, people tend to shut their minds off to what I have to say and shy away from the situation. For instance, I was talking to Brandon one day while he was working and we happened to brief on the subject of religion. Pearl, a co-worker, pitched out that Brandon should go to church with me one time or something along those lines, and Brandon just didn't say much and changed the subject. So how do you tell your unbelieving friends about Jesus when they just don't want to hear it? Sure, a lot of people know the story of Jesus, basically God in a bod who came down to Earth and died to save all of mankind, but there are so many people who just don't believe that Jesus is the Savior. And if you bring up the subject too many times, people start to think you are a religious quack or something! The last thing I want to do is to scare off someone from Christianity. What I want is for people to learn and grow in Christ on their own terms in their own time.
I know religion is a very touchy subject and people have their own opinions, but I just hope that non-believers would just have open minds about Christ. Jesus is my personal Savior and I wouldn't be able to go through my trials and errors with out Him. He is my rock and He is always there to catch me when I fall. It is Him I put my trust in, till the end of my days. I hope to inspire non-believers, where they would one day be able to look at me and wonder, "what is that girl's secret to her happiness?" where then I would respond it is because of God. Someday, that moment will come but for now, I will just go on living my life, honoring the Lord the best that I can.