1. It’s all about relationship. The key to Christianity is realizing that it’s
all about relationship -- relationship with God and relationship with
others. Don’t get bogged down in
theological principles, searching for spiritual insights, or the latest
theological fad. Christianity is
simple. It’s about your relationship
with God and about your relationship with others. If you keep that in mind, things will go
good.
2. Read the Bible more. Out of all the advice that I was given as a
new Christian, the best advice I ever received was to read the Bible. I wish I had read it more as a new
Christian. It was only after I became
serious about Christianity and actually started reading the Bible and listening
for God’s voice in his word, did my spiritual growth begin. In the well-worn cliché, it is stated that
the Bible is God’s love letter to us. But the thing about clichés is that they
are often true, and it is in the Bible that we find God and God’s love, we
learn about God, and we come to know God.
Read the Bible daily. No matter
what else is going on in your life, read the Bible.
3. Don’t be scared to pray. As a young Christian, I was scared to pray,
especially out loud. I didn’t think I
knew enough. I didn’t think I knew how
to pray “right.” I didn’t want others to
judge me when I prayed. But then I
realized that prayer is just talking to God.
That’s all it is. Just close your
eyes, picture God in your mind, and talk to him as you would another
person. Don’t be afraid to pray out loud
-- others are not judging you on your prayer.
They are as concerned about praying out loud as you are. Just remember, they are not your
audience. Your audience is God. So just pray close your eyes, blot out the
world, let yourself be embraced in his presence, and just talk to him as you
would another person. Don’t pray in
theological terms. Don’t pray using King
James version English. Just pray from
the heart and trust that God will hear you and will receive your prayer. It’s not that hard. Just do it.
4. Don’t complain. Don’t become a negative person who complains
about everything and everyone around them.
Receive what God has given you and try to find the joy within. No one likes a negative person, so stop
complaining and learn to be content in all situations. Complaining puts the focus on us and on our
needs and our wants and our wishes. By
choosing to not complain, we shift the focus off ourselves and onto God and
onto others. It allows us to minister
more to those around us. It allows us to
be more grateful for what we do have. Don’t
complain.
5. Learn how to journal. Learn that a journal can be as simple as a
one line entry in an Excel spreadsheet.
It doesn’t have to be several paragraphs written in a hardbound leather
book. All a journal is is a record of
what happened to you that day, either spiritually or physically or
materially. You need to record what is
going on in your life. By having a
written record of how you interacted with God or how God spoke to you during
the day, you will be able to look back years from now and see how God directed
your path and brought you out of the storm, and you will be able to use this
experience to further your spiritual growth with him.
6. Talk to others about Christ. As a new Christian, I was scared to death to
talk to someone about Jesus. I can still
be scared today to talk to others about Jesus.
We often think that they will judge us, or that we will be embarrassed
or ridiculed by their response. But my
experience shows that most people want to hear about Jesus. Just share how your life has been
changed. Don’t try to quote Scripture,
don’t try to convince them to become a Christian, just ask if you can tell them
what God did in your life today.
7. Don’t care what people think. Don’t let another person hinder your walk
with Christ. If you are in a worship
service and you feel like raising your hands and praising God with all your
heart, mind, soul, and strength, then do it.
Don’t let someone else stop you from doing what God is calling you to
do. More than likely, they’re not even
really paying attention to you. Don’t
let the fear of another person keep you from being who God called you to be or
doing what He called you to do.
8. Take more risks. In the movie, “We Bought a Zoo,” Matt Damon’s
character tells his son to just have 20 seconds of courage and his life will be
dramatically changed. Too often we are
scared to do what God is asking us to do.
We need to summon up 20 seconds of courage to just do what God wants us
to do. You know what it is. Just do it.
Don’t be scared, but trust that the God of all creation will enable you
to do whatever it is he is calling you to do.
9. Be nice.
Christians have a reputation for being judgmental and critical of
others, especially unbelievers. Change
that. Be nice to all. Even to those who are different from
you. Especially to those who are
different from you. All people are the
same on the inside. They all want to
love and to be loved, to know that someone else thinks they are important, that
someone else wants to listen to their story and not just impose an agenda upon
them. Be that person. Be nice.
Love them. Listen to their story
without interruption. As we say in the
Kairos movement, “listen, listen, love, love.”
Be nice to others.
10. Give without expecting something in return. Everything you have, everything you are --
every gift, talent, and skill you possess -- are all gifts from God. And God did not just gift you so that you
would succeed in life. He gifted you so
that you would be able to bless others in his name. So give to others without expecting anything
in return. Give yourself to others. Give your time and your resources and your
love to others, even if you don’t receive anything back. Give freely because grace has been given
freely to you.
11. Don’t live in the past. Too many Christians let themselves be bogged
down in the past. Whether we’re talking
about past sins that we have done, or whether we’re talking about hurts that
have been received in the past, we allow the past to shape who we are at the
moment. To paraphrase what the Apostle
Paul said in the New Testament, “forgetting what is behind and looking forward
to the future, I press on towards the goal I have in Christ Jesus.” We need to stop letting the past hinder our
walk with Christ, and start moving forward to the new life that he has
promised. Your sins have been forgiven
-- don’t let past, unforgiven sins bog you down. If there are past wrongs in your life -- if
others have hurt you -- forgive them and move on. Christ doesn’t want us to live in the past,
but to die to self, pick up our cross, and follow him to eternity. Throw off the chains that hinder us from
moving forward, set your face towards Christ, and go.
No comments:
Post a Comment