Do you believe in God? Are you a Christian?
I am asked this question (or related ones) much more frequently in Turkey than in the West. I am not sure why. Perhaps one reason is because in Turkey religion is not considered a private matter to the extent it is in my native country. For many people, faith really does influence their everyday lives.
I believe in God and am a Christian, but this was not always the case. Although I grew up in a Catholic family and my mother made a great effort to see I had a Christian upbringing, I did not encounter God personally until I was twenty years old.
Until I reached my teenage years it was normal for me to go to church every day and take these things seriously. I can still clearly remember that I was often relieved after confession (with a priest) and resolutely decided to do better in the future. However, this euphoria was usually very short-lived because I kept on doing the things I did not want to.
When I reached the age of about fourteen, I gradually gave up trying to please God, although.
I still believed that God existed and that one day I would have to give an account of my life to him. Consequently, I did not live a “godless” life, but tried to live by a moral code. I believed that God must actually be quite satisfied with me – compared to other people. During these years I was able to fulfil some of my dreams and desires (through travel, enjoying the Great Outdoors and sport) and did not consider myself unhappy.
On the other hand, I did have a nagging feeling that my life lacked a deeper meaning and a suspicion that I did not really have what I was looking for.
There was a New Testament on my book shelf at the time and sometimes I would read parts of it, but it seemed abstract and I did not get much from it. This changed when I started my military service and met an enthusiastic Christian. I found I was getting to know a person very like myself, but there was a crucial difference: he had discovered the meaning of life.
The answers that Manfred, and other young people like him, gave about life and death made a great impression on me. I soon realized that God had played a very minor role in my life up to that point.
These Christians read the Bible and prayed because they wanted to communicate with their God and to me it made sense that a relationship with a person (or even God) should have a tangible effect.
After all, if you really love someone, you talk frequently and look forward to every letter. Well, the result was that I began to read the Bible and I started in the New Testament. To my surprise, the Gospels were far from boring. Many things were challenging and it seemed as if I were hearing them for the first time.
One example is Jesus’ statement in the Book of John:
“I am the way the truth and the life.”
Another is
“If a person is not born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God”.
During these months I became convinced that the Bible really was the Word of God and even I, a “decent” person, had been going the wrong way.
I realised that there were only two options: to live my life with God and allow Him to direct me, or to live life my own way and be separated from Him for ever. For the very first time I understood that Jesus had died on the cross so that I my sins could be forgiven: he had taken the punishment personally.
Even after I realised that Jesus Christ offered me new hope, it still took quite some time before I was ready to receive this gift. I was afraid of being laughed at and losing friends. Twenty-five years later, I can honestly say that the decision to receive Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and follow him is one I have never regretted. It changed my life. Do you want to know more about the Bible and about believing in Jesus? Here is a good address: The most important decision of your life
I am asked this question (or related ones) much more frequently in Turkey than in the West. I am not sure why. Perhaps one reason is because in Turkey religion is not considered a private matter to the extent it is in my native country. For many people, faith really does influence their everyday lives.
I believe in God and am a Christian, but this was not always the case. Although I grew up in a Catholic family and my mother made a great effort to see I had a Christian upbringing, I did not encounter God personally until I was twenty years old.
Until I reached my teenage years it was normal for me to go to church every day and take these things seriously. I can still clearly remember that I was often relieved after confession (with a priest) and resolutely decided to do better in the future. However, this euphoria was usually very short-lived because I kept on doing the things I did not want to.
When I reached the age of about fourteen, I gradually gave up trying to please God, although.
I still believed that God existed and that one day I would have to give an account of my life to him. Consequently, I did not live a “godless” life, but tried to live by a moral code. I believed that God must actually be quite satisfied with me – compared to other people. During these years I was able to fulfil some of my dreams and desires (through travel, enjoying the Great Outdoors and sport) and did not consider myself unhappy.
On the other hand, I did have a nagging feeling that my life lacked a deeper meaning and a suspicion that I did not really have what I was looking for.
There was a New Testament on my book shelf at the time and sometimes I would read parts of it, but it seemed abstract and I did not get much from it. This changed when I started my military service and met an enthusiastic Christian. I found I was getting to know a person very like myself, but there was a crucial difference: he had discovered the meaning of life.
The answers that Manfred, and other young people like him, gave about life and death made a great impression on me. I soon realized that God had played a very minor role in my life up to that point.
These Christians read the Bible and prayed because they wanted to communicate with their God and to me it made sense that a relationship with a person (or even God) should have a tangible effect.
After all, if you really love someone, you talk frequently and look forward to every letter. Well, the result was that I began to read the Bible and I started in the New Testament. To my surprise, the Gospels were far from boring. Many things were challenging and it seemed as if I were hearing them for the first time.
One example is Jesus’ statement in the Book of John:
“I am the way the truth and the life.”
Another is
“If a person is not born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God”.
During these months I became convinced that the Bible really was the Word of God and even I, a “decent” person, had been going the wrong way.
I realised that there were only two options: to live my life with God and allow Him to direct me, or to live life my own way and be separated from Him for ever. For the very first time I understood that Jesus had died on the cross so that I my sins could be forgiven: he had taken the punishment personally.
Even after I realised that Jesus Christ offered me new hope, it still took quite some time before I was ready to receive this gift. I was afraid of being laughed at and losing friends. Twenty-five years later, I can honestly say that the decision to receive Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and follow him is one I have never regretted. It changed my life. Do you want to know more about the Bible and about believing in Jesus? Here is a good address: The most important decision of your life
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen