I have always claimed to be a Christian. I always believed I was a Christian, but I was always missing something. Something just did not seem right. Something was off. My husband and I were living a slippery slope of bad choices. We followed the path of typical college student and even the typical adult these days. Then some things happened that rocked our world....people got sick that we love, people died, the things we thought were certain in our lives were being turned upside down and some personal struggles were apparent. We came to see that the way we were living was not right. We felt as if we were reaching for something...trying to stay afloat but constantly missing the bar.
My husband and I realized, we were not real authentic Christians. We were Christians by birth. It was something we were born into, not something we choose on our own. We decided to do the research through our own study of the bible, this was our salvation and we needed to make sure we were on the right path. What we found was eye opening to us, we were NOT Christians. We found being a Christian is way more then going to Church regularly/or sometimes, telling others we are Christians or just coasting through life claiming to be Christians. Without a personal relationship with God, we were not Christians. We knew we needed a change and needed it quick. After some time both us broke down, cried, admitted we were sinners/always would be, accepted Jesus as our savior, and asked him to be part of our lives. Our relationship began with God that day. We did not have one before that day.
Since that day several years ago our lives have became huge change. Its been very hard to break old bad habits. The main key to breaking old bad habits is staying away from them, talking about them and accepting you will always be prone to doing them. I must say its been very hard, but our family has been never been so strong, my husband and I have never had such a great relationship and our kids are learning by our example. Once we accepted that we needed to change, we really began to see God's hand in our lives. His plan for life just makes sense. We seemed to make things so difficult before, once we had a clear picture of what God wants from marriage/life it was easier. Weights were lifted off both of our shoulders.
Our change has brought some to hate us, others to disapprove and others closer to us. The thing is God never said it would be easy to follow him. In fact, it is the oppisite. Many times he says the world will hate you when you choose to follow Jesus. The thing is, we are prone to sin. That is why we have such a hard time accepting when people we love choose to live a life devoted to following Christ. I don't blame any one who has had this feeling about me. I have felt the same way about others that figured it out before me. I know the feeling.
One thing I have noticed since we have become authentic Christians. We are held to a higher standard. Everyone is watching us. To the people who think we are perfect..or that we will not make mistakes. You are wrong. We sin every day! The difference is we know the sin, acknowledge it, confront it, ask God for forgiveness and try to change. Its a ever changing battle that we work on each and every day. Its part of being human. Some days we do better then others.
Some things that have really changed since we accepted Jesus as our savior:
1. We pray at meal times
2. We pray at bedtimes with our children
3. We read the bible with our children
4. We have a personal time daily for God and our own bible reading
5. We pray jointly/individually
6. We have stopped putting ourselves in positions to sin when we can
7. We have stopped listening to those who do not support our faith
8. We have realized that the worlds way is not the best way...God's way is the best plan for us all
9. Our marriage is stronger
10. Our family is stronger
11. We have a strong foundation for our marriage and our family (a cord of three is not easily broken Ecc 4:12)
12. We have deep, intimate, caring relationships with those we love
13. We have served/helped other more
14. We are committed to helping others
15. We WANT to help/serve and do not feel obligated to..we feel lead to
16. Life is clearer, We prayerfully commit or consider decisions
17. We discipline our children more efficiently
18. We talk more openly to each other, the kids and people we love
19. It is easier to ask for help...emotionally, supportive or for needs
20. We have a church family..its an amazing thing
21. We prayerfully commit or consider decisions
This was hard for me to write. I am really putting myself out there, but I feel its necessary to explain our faith going forward with this blog. My
hope is to be real with you through this journey. I would not be real with you if I did not share about the most important thing in my life...my God and my faith.
One thing I have noticed since we have become authentic Christians. We are held to a higher standard. Everyone is watching us. To the people who think we are perfect..or that we will not make mistakes. You are wrong. We sin every day! The difference is we know the sin, acknowledge it, confront it, ask God for forgiveness and try to change. Its a ever changing battle that we work on each and every day. Its part of being human. Some days we do better then others.
Some things that have really changed since we accepted Jesus as our savior:
1. We pray at meal times
2. We pray at bedtimes with our children
3. We read the bible with our children
4. We have a personal time daily for God and our own bible reading
5. We pray jointly/individually
6. We have stopped putting ourselves in positions to sin when we can
7. We have stopped listening to those who do not support our faith
8. We have realized that the worlds way is not the best way...God's way is the best plan for us all
9. Our marriage is stronger
10. Our family is stronger
11. We have a strong foundation for our marriage and our family (a cord of three is not easily broken Ecc 4:12)
12. We have deep, intimate, caring relationships with those we love
13. We have served/helped other more
14. We are committed to helping others
15. We WANT to help/serve and do not feel obligated to..we feel lead to
16. Life is clearer, We prayerfully commit or consider decisions
17. We discipline our children more efficiently
18. We talk more openly to each other, the kids and people we love
19. It is easier to ask for help...emotionally, supportive or for needs
20. We have a church family..its an amazing thing
21. We prayerfully commit or consider decisions
This was hard for me to write. I am really putting myself out there, but I feel its necessary to explain our faith going forward with this blog. My
hope is to be real with you through this journey. I would not be real with you if I did not share about the most important thing in my life...my God and my faith.
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