I was around 5 years old the first time I remember saying a prayer and asking God into my heart and testifying that I believed that Jesus was the Messiah. At such a young age you can understand the small basics of God and what he has done, but how much do we truly understand about giving our life over to him. I think most Christians don't fully understand the commitment they are making at first, this is because a large number of Christians today don't live a life that God tells us to lead.
Many believe as did I growing up that as long as I said a prayer and believed that I was saved. If I sinned I could ask for forgiveness as everything would be okay. It almost seemed that I could live my life in the manner I wanted to as a 'good christian' and I had noting to worry about. It was not till much later that I realized how wrong I was.
Being a Christian means so much more, we are not just on the sidelines of life agreeing that we believe something, but should be fully emerged in living a life in the way God intended for us to. In Luke 10:27 god tells us that we should love with everything we have essentially.
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
This is only one scripture that tells us how we should be living our lives as Christians. The Bible gives us example after example of how we should be living our lives as Christians. We should strive to follow the examples God gave us. He also tells us what will happen to us if we choose not to follow in the way that he wants us to. He tells us in Revelations 3:15-16
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
This does not mean that we must be perfect in everything we do and that we must be without sin. We are all sinners and will continue to sin because of our flesh, but it is the fight we give against our temptations to sin that make us different. I once heard a pastor say it this way, the difference can be seen by how we handle a situation, if we are honestly in our hearts trying not to sin, but struggle God sees that what your heart looks like and knows if you do it with complete disregard to what he has spoken to you or if you are truly working to change this aspect of your life.
My struggle is being short tempered. This is something I work hard to change it isn't something that will happen over night because it is a habit that I have created in my life, but God knows my heart and knows that this is not what I want. We have to look at our sin and change what we know is wrong and if we slip its okay if our heart is in the right place. But don't ever think that your sin is too big for God, he will always love you no matter what your heart is and will always give you another chance.
A great book to read if you want to learn more about living a full life for Christ in the way God intended it is Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Another great book in reaching the next step in your relationship with God is Crazy Love by Francis Chan.
Many believe as did I growing up that as long as I said a prayer and believed that I was saved. If I sinned I could ask for forgiveness as everything would be okay. It almost seemed that I could live my life in the manner I wanted to as a 'good christian' and I had noting to worry about. It was not till much later that I realized how wrong I was.
Being a Christian means so much more, we are not just on the sidelines of life agreeing that we believe something, but should be fully emerged in living a life in the way God intended for us to. In Luke 10:27 god tells us that we should love with everything we have essentially.
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
This is only one scripture that tells us how we should be living our lives as Christians. The Bible gives us example after example of how we should be living our lives as Christians. We should strive to follow the examples God gave us. He also tells us what will happen to us if we choose not to follow in the way that he wants us to. He tells us in Revelations 3:15-16
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
This does not mean that we must be perfect in everything we do and that we must be without sin. We are all sinners and will continue to sin because of our flesh, but it is the fight we give against our temptations to sin that make us different. I once heard a pastor say it this way, the difference can be seen by how we handle a situation, if we are honestly in our hearts trying not to sin, but struggle God sees that what your heart looks like and knows if you do it with complete disregard to what he has spoken to you or if you are truly working to change this aspect of your life.
My struggle is being short tempered. This is something I work hard to change it isn't something that will happen over night because it is a habit that I have created in my life, but God knows my heart and knows that this is not what I want. We have to look at our sin and change what we know is wrong and if we slip its okay if our heart is in the right place. But don't ever think that your sin is too big for God, he will always love you no matter what your heart is and will always give you another chance.
A great book to read if you want to learn more about living a full life for Christ in the way God intended it is Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. Another great book in reaching the next step in your relationship with God is Crazy Love by Francis Chan.