|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 8:54 pm
Sorry if this is the wrong place to put this, I'm sure a mod will move it if it's the wrong place.
Anyway, I've been out of Christanity for quite some time, but have just started exploring it again. My question is, I've prayed, but I don't feel love or what ever your supposed to feel. I prayed that God would accept me and acknowledged that I’m a sinner, and that I want to be a better person, but I don’t feel anything. It’s really making me question my faith, to be honest. Anyway, my main question is, how do you know God loves you? Have you ever had an experience where you just knew you were loved and accepted by God? If so, I’d like to hear about them, and I'd also like to know what else I should do. Am I trying to hard? Thanks in advance.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:14 am
Dark Seeker Sorry if this is the wrong place to put this, I'm sure a mod will move it if it's the wrong place. Anyway, I've been out of Christanity for quite some time, but have just started exploring it again. My question is, I've prayed, but I don't feel love or what ever your supposed to feel. I prayed that God would accept me and acknowledged that I’m a sinner, and that I want to be a better person, but I don’t feel anything. It’s really making me question my faith, to be honest. Anyway, my main question is, how do you know God loves you? Have you ever had an experience where you just knew you were loved and accepted by God? If so, I’d like to hear about them, and I'd also like to know what else I should do. Am I trying to hard? Thanks in advance. All you have to do is pray to the good lord above and ask him to forgive you of all yor sins and ask him to come into your heart and be your lord and savior.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:03 pm
How do I know God loves me? The church I am in now. I was in a terrible church, and weeks after leaving, a string of events led me to the church I'm at today. I love this place. The people are nice, church camp is the best I've gone too, and its an active church too. Had a mission trip last month.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:54 pm
Just so you know, when you first become a Christian, God will nurture you and "baby" you in order for you to grow. Think as Christianity as a person. When a baby is born, it needs a lot of love and attention from its parent. After the baby grows up, the parent has done all he/she can and allows their child to go off in the world and make their own desisions. God does the same things with us. When we are first born again, he gives us all of these warm, gooey feelings inside of us to let us know that he's there and that he loves us. After a while, God will "take us off of the bottle" meaning, He knows we are ready to choose Him without all of the warm feelings. That's when God wants to know that your faith will be enough to continue to follow Him. If you are waiting for a feeling, you may be waiting forever. Just becuase you can't FEEL anything, doesn't mean God doesn't love you. It just means that God feels you are "old' enough spiritually to be a Christian becuase you have faith in Him, not based off of a feeling you have. That same concept can be seen in love. When two people first fall in love, they have "butterflies". But soon, the butterflies go away and they continue to love eachother becuase they CHOOSE to. Choosing to love is a very mature thing and God may feel you are ready for that kind of mature love with Him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:59 pm
Dark Seeker Sorry if this is the wrong place to put this, I'm sure a mod will move it if it's the wrong place. Anyway, I've been out of Christanity for quite some time, but have just started exploring it again. My question is, I've prayed, but I don't feel love or what ever your supposed to feel. I prayed that God would accept me and acknowledged that I’m a sinner, and that I want to be a better person, but I don’t feel anything. It’s really making me question my faith, to be honest. Anyway, my main question is, how do you know God loves you? Have you ever had an experience where you just knew you were loved and accepted by God? If so, I’d like to hear about them, and I'd also like to know what else I should do. Am I trying to hard? Thanks in advance. let me be a little blunt here and no offense to god, but its hard to really FEEL love from someone you can't see....touch...smell....feel in front of you. we go to him by pure faith so it makes things a little difficult. but there are many ways to tell that he loves you. if he didn't love you then why would he create you? he gave you a life....thread you within you're mothers womb and gave you the physical looks you have that no one else has. he made you an individual and breathed life into you. to me thats no different than you're own mother giving life to you, because they wanted to create you and love you as their own. do you not have a roof over your head and food on the table? i know that sounds cliche but we take everything we have for granted. and having a home to come to everyday is very nice compared to the homeless i see on the street. do you not succeed in life? if not fast then little by little? God opens doors for you when the time is right and guides us to what we need to take the next step in life, and that doesn't always include happy times. times of suffering are there too for us to learn from and to grow from. and it is not God's nature to lie. he NEVER lies, and if he says in the bible he loves everyone, then it is what it is. he loves you no matter what you feel or think.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:04 pm
First off, God does love you. That is the truth. He says so in the bible, so it is truth. Second, to know that you're loved, look at all that you have. Friends, family, a place to live, an education, food to eat, water to drink, and a savior that died for you, and took on the burden of the world so we could have eternal life. Count your blessings and dwell on that fact that God supplied all this for you. Continue praying, and invite God into your life. Read the bible, and talk to a spiritual leader you know.
And yes, I have had an experience when I just know God loves me. I've had many. And maybe you are trying to hard, and you're just overcomplicating the matter. To have an experience, it's as simple as inviting God into your heart, and spending time with him.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:23 pm
Dark Seeker Sorry if this is the wrong place to put this, I'm sure a mod will move it if it's the wrong place. Anyway, I've been out of Christanity for quite some time, but have just started exploring it again. My question is, I've prayed, but I don't feel love or what ever your supposed to feel. I prayed that God would accept me and acknowledged that I’m a sinner, and that I want to be a better person, but I don’t feel anything. It’s really making me question my faith, to be honest. Anyway, my main question is, how do you know God loves you? Have you ever had an experience where you just knew you were loved and accepted by God? If so, I’d like to hear about them, and I'd also like to know what else I should do. Am I trying to hard? Thanks in advance. not to be rude or mean or anything like that. but you can't 'explore' Christianity as you put it. it isn't something to be explored. it is something to come to realization and then to put in practice. not just something you can leave and come back to when you feel like it. now with that aside... i agree with Dark Seeker. Love isn't something that you really feel. it isn't a true emotion but an action. some days i personally feel like i'm unloved, even by God, but then i sit and think about what all has happened in my life and i can see that God does love me and has lead me to where i am today. it is by action that we know God's love. the affects that he has in our lives, the fact that he died for us on the cross that he was willing to leave his kingdom and become as dirt as we are so that he would know what it was like to be us and so that he could give us a way back to him. some days it's hard for us. God knows this he went through that same feeling here while on the cross. the Father turned his back on him and he was completely alone, feeling unloved. it's also a time thing. the more you grow as a Christian the closer you feel to God (2 peter 1:3). but even then there will still be days when you feel further away from him then ever before. just don't let those days get to you, keep on praising him and press on. we just have to have faith in his promises.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 1:53 am
love IS and love ISNT. its an action but it is JUST AS MUCH an emotional REaction. love can not be so easily defined like some like to do. love is also by interpretation of how each of us individually see it.
but just as much, love can come in many forms and it doesn't have to come in feeling. it can come just as much in action, and since its harder to "feel" it from god, we can see it more from him in the actions he does for us to keep us going in life.
so don't get the wrong idea that love is "only" an action, thats wrong. love is nothing and love is everything. remember that.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Jul 27, 2007 8:53 am
SaintChaos love IS and love ISNT. its an action but it is JUST AS MUCH an emotional REaction. love can not be so easily defined like some like to do. love is also by interpretation of how each of us individually see it. but just as much, love can come in many forms and it doesn't have to come in feeling. it can come just as much in action, and since its harder to "feel" it from god, we can see it more from him in the actions he does for us to keep us going in life. so don't get the wrong idea that love is "only" an action, thats wrong. love is nothing and love is everything. remember that. actually love is defined in the Bible in simple terms. 1 Corinthians 13. 4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails. true love is no emotion based. it i loyalty and decision based. otherwise how are we to be expected to 'love our enemies? an emotion is something that will fade away, but a decision and loyalty towards/about a person will last as long as you continue to follow that decision.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
