I Want God in My Life,Not My Parent’s Religion
This article is not intended to sew discord between
parents and their young people, but to help young people
If you can answer “yes” to the following questions, this article can help you: 1. Are your parents (or parent) religious? 2. Is their teaching so complex you cannot possibly understand it all now? 3. Do they really claim to love you and try hard to get you to practice religion their way because they think it is best for you? 4. Do you find their religious practice often not applicable to your life situation? 5. Do you find that they are not very interested in your personal beliefs and convictions? 6. Is all of this “driving you crazy”? 7. Do you still desire to worship and follow the God of the Bible? You can come to God at your age. Many of the prophets of the Old Testament, and Jesus’ disciples in the New Testament, started when they were young. God spoke to the prophet Samuel when he was a young man, rather than to the old, but corrupt high priest, Eli (1Sam 3). God does not expect you to know all that your parents, ministers or teachers know right now. But he wants you to take spiritual responsibility for yourself. This article is not simply telling you to quit previous religious practices. It is telling you to establish your own belief in God and commitment to learn and live His way apart from your parent’s religion. If you are going to simply stop your present religious practices, and not replace them with a plan of your own, then you will probably be even worse off. On the other hand, if you use this article to establish a life-long personal commitment to God, it may be the best thing that ever happened to you. Not because this article is great, but because God is great, and you are looking to Him! We will first cover a few essential Bible verses, then give a six step plan for your spiritual life. Jesus: What Is Most Important? We do not have to guess at which are the most important verses in the Bible, they are identified for us. Mark 32 So the scribe said to Him, "Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 "And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered
wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the What Is Love? 1
John 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us. 20 If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also. John John John Luke 6:35 "But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” Unfortunately, many religious people teach that God works mostly in their religious group, usually because “they have true doctrine and other groups don’t”. Some teach that Christians are to love their enemies, but that God tortures his enemies forever—even if they have never heard His Word. Run from teaching like that. God does not like sin, or want us to do it. But the purpose of this world is not for us to suffer, but for us to repent of our sin. 2Pet 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. What Does God Think of People with Little Doctrinal Knowledge but Great Faith? Let us start with the story of a Roman centurion, an army commander of100 men, who was not an Israelite and had little understanding of God, but asked Jesus to heal his servant: Matt 8:7 And Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." 10 When Jesus heard it, He
marveled, and said to those who followed, "Assuredly, I say to you, I
have not found such great faith, not even in This centurion was headed for the Luke While this man certainly did not go to heaven with Jesus
that day—Jesus was dead the rest of that day, he did receive a promise on
that day that he would be in “paradise” because of his attitude. Christ did
not use a Hebrew expression for the Our last example is a Roman Jailer, with apparently no prior belief in God, who almost killed himself when he thought his prisoners escaped: Acts
Basics of Doctrine In the apostle Peter’s stirring message about Christ’s sacrifice for all our sins, he told everyone: Acts In the book of Hebrews, we find a list of the six basic doctrines of Christianity: Heb 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Heb 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Matt 4:4 [Jesus] answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.' " A Plan for You To take control of your own spiritual life, you need to make a plan to do these things: 1. Pray regularly. You pick the place and time, but find time to talk to God each day. 2. Read the Bible. Almost any version will work, but the New King James is a good version to start. Read it from beginning to end. If some books are too difficult, skip them, but read as much of it as you can. 3. Study the Bible. Get an exhaustive concordance or a computer Bible (biblegateway.com, onelinebible.org, esword.net) so that you can find any verse in the Bible by knowing just a couple words in it. Begin by studying the basic doctrines in the past section. 4. Assemble regularly with other believers. Share your Bible study with them. You do not need a minister or teacher to do this. Sharing with other people your age is the best. If there are none available locally, try doing it on-line. 5. Set a goal to repent and be baptized. Don’t do it without thinking, but do not make your path so long that you cannot walk down it. 6.
Don’t let the “cares of the world” distract you (Matt It is not easy for parents to turn over responsibility for
important things to their children. So many Christian teachers emphasize just
doing religious things, rather than people learning to make the right
choices. You will be tested on this point yourself in about 20 years when
your children mature. Remember what it was like to be young, then. As much as
possible, honor your parents and live at peace with all people (Ex May God bless you as you seek Him! &
by Norman Edwards, Church
Bible Teaching Ministry PO Box 474, Port Austin, Michigan 48467-0474; Scriptures quotes: New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, © 1982, All Rights Reserved
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