I am a so called Christian, born in a Christian family. I go to a Baptist church, I have been to several denominations of churches such as Pentecost, Brethren, and the Church of England….
I am 27yr old and I have also studied theology for 2 years, but I still haven’t found the Lord. I have been trying hard to walk according to the bible and the teachings of Christ, but the worldly pleasures and the lustful things don’t allow me to do so! How can I overcome all this and follow Christ.
Why doesn’t Christ help and prove to me his existence?
-Clifford
Dear Clifford,
Thanks for your question and I think you’re not alone in your dissatisfaction with religion and it’s inability to help you find God in a deep, meaningful, and personal way.
First, I would challenge your belief that somehow you have to try hard to follow Christ. This is actually quite far from what the gospel really is. Christ Died in our place and rose so we could live abundantly with him. It was a free gift, not something we have to earn or work for. So the first thing I would tell you is to stop trying, working, striving etc. Just except Jesus’ love for you and know that He loves you just the way you are, lustful ways and all. Allow His grace and love to change you instead of trying to change yourself.
Secondly, perhaps you can’t find God because you’ve been looking to a religious system to show you God and perhaps this has made your understanding of him skewed. If you don’t know what to look for how can you find it? Jesus often spoke against the religious system in place during his life because it had been boiled down to a set of rules and duties. People looked clean on the outside, but on the inside their hearts were wicked. Many walk around in our churches like that and I too was like that at one time. God cannot be defined or confined by a system. He is living, dynamic and so much more than we can imagine. What’s more, He promises to come reside with in our hearts and not in some building.
I think one of the first steps to finding God is to look within, listen for his still small voice speaking love to your spirit. His voice will never condemn or alienate but will always speak love, love for you and encourage you to love others. I encourage you to read the book “The Shack“. It is a beautiful book that helps people to realize the character of God and how wonderful He truly is.
So relax, quit striving, quit beating yourself up and simply rest in His loving arms and know that you are forgiven, cherished, and that God is especially fond of you.
Sincerely,
Ted
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Well thank u very much for ur sharing. I deeply appreciate ur concern. This is one thing that makes me realize that there is gods love, which i can see through people like you. But now i am so worried about my future, i haven’t succeeded at all in my life, even now when i m 27 yrs old i dont have any achievements in my life in every area such as my qualification or my jobs or my relationships or anything that i do….Every where i get failure even my parents aren’t happy with me, i just dont know why….I try hard for every achievement but i achieved nothing but failure and depression. And i know this is all because i m not saved. I dont know how i m i going to get saved. Its like i know all the truth, but i can’t apply it to my life….! Yes i do believe that Christ died for me and he took all my burdens upon himself and i need not worry and cast away all my worries to him….but practically speaking its not real for me….I keep thinking this way for a couple of days or weeks and then forget about it and go back to my same old sinful life. I am just waiting for the Lord to show me his existence, do you think i am thinking rightly…..?
I do see a couple flaws in your thinking.. first being “you’re not successful because you aren’t saved” There are many successful, happy people that wouldn’t adhere to a faith of any kind… This is because God’s grace/love is bigger than faith.. It rains on the just and the unjust… So if it’s not being saved that’s the problem then perhaps the problem is your view of self…. I get the feeling that you don’t think much of yourself…This type of thought becomes a self fulfilling prophecy…You think you’re unsuccessful so subconsciously you sabotage any chance of success in your life…This also ties to you’re problem finding God…If you can’t love yourself, and you think you are unlovable, how can you truly accept and believe God’s love as well as accept the love of others.. I would encourage you to consider seeing a counselor, one who uses CBT, He/she can help you dig into these negative thoughts and help you undo them… I really think this will be a key element in finding success and finding God in a real way….
Jesus is called “Wonderful Counselor”. Though it’s good to find a “jesus with skin on”, it’s equally important to recognize that personal guilt is a product of sin. If we start from a recognition of the reality of sin, we stand a better chance of learning what is Holy. Counsel all we will, we are not able to save. All we can do is point to the One who can. Comforting those who are not of Christ is much like trying to prevent a bomb from exploding by covering it with whiped cream.
By His Grace.
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