I never really understood what it meant to be Christian. In fact I am still learning. Growing up I have been exposed to so many misconceptions about Christianity, and as I go through life, I see that others have been affected in the same way. I mean, my mom always took me to church, until I hit the age of my rebellion, and the funny thing is, she didn't understand what it meant to be Christian either.
I always did my own thing. But, I was never to much of a rebel in society's eyes. I went to school, got good grades, and did a couple of sports. Someone once described me as a "good girl"and "perfect"-they had no idea of who I really was. My life sucked, and I never got along with my mother once I hit my late middle school years. It was just me, my mom, and my sis, and I paid God absolutely no attention (not any real attention).
This started to change when I was in high school. My best friend, who I met while on the track team, invited me to go to a bible study that a group of students had one morning a week at the school. I decided to go one day, and then kept going, but still, I didn't know what it meant to be Christian. I had stopped going to church, a place that didn't teach me anything about living for God. I went to bible study in high school-that's where I gained some companionship, but still, I didn't understand. There was no one there to teach me more than just practices and rituals, and sugar coated bible stories.
Some time went by, and I got baptized when I was 16, and I think it was because a seed was planted into me by my best friend. I'm glad I got baptized then, even though I was afraid, and didn't want to walk to the front of a church with everyone's eyes on me. And even then, I didn't fully understand.
Everything changed my freshmen year of college. I had been looking for a bible study in college because it was what I did in high school. I was on Facebook one day, and saw that there was a bible study that Friday right across from the dorm I lived in. After that, I don't think I was ever the same. Finally, my eyes and my heart were opening, and I couldn't stop crying. So, this was God the Almighty. A huge being that was leading me this whole time, so that I could become His. God was more then a building I rarely went to, He was more than my routine prayers about food, and the prayers asking that He doesn't kill me in the middle of the night. He is so much more.
I actually started to read the bible on my own that Spring, and I was learning things that I never even heard before. Why in the world had I never been told this stuff before? I tried reading the bible in the past, but at that time I only found it boring. Now, it was completely real. I no longer just depended on what others had told me about God and Christianity, I searched and learned about it for myself. So, God isn't far away and out of reach? Christ was always here? What? He wants me? What do you mean I was chosen? Why?
John 1:1-5 says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made, without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
We were born in the world, and this world is full of darkness, hate, and horror. We have been in it our whole lives, but there is a way to escape it, and that is through Christ. However, so many people either don't know, don't accept, or have been lied to so much that they run away from the light that saves us.
John 1:10 says: "He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him."
People do not recognize Christ even though he is always reaching out to us, and sometimes they never find him.
So, I guess the whole point of this post is to get people to seek. To not depend on what people, society, and what the media tells you about God and Christ. Find out the truth for yourself. Pray. Actually speak to God. Tell him about your day, your questions, anything. Ask him to help you learn. Do it with all seriousness, even if you feel a little silly. He answers us in various ways, and he wants to hear from you.
Matthew 7:7 says: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."
I know God can hear me, and I know that this scripture is true because so many of my prayers have been answered.
Learning what it means to be Christian is a process, but I'm happy with my choice, and want to continue to grow.
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| Represents light, and those are totally not my fingers. |
Sincerely,
Lisa
p.s. (I do think it is important to go to church, you just have to find the right one. I'll go into the reasons later)
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