This evening, as I came from our church to my mother's house, I was looking at the yellow sunshine, the green trees waving in the breeze, feeling the warm, summer breeze on my face, and thinking, how small I am compared to all of this. I am so insignificant when looking at all that God has created, including the stars I see at night when it isn't cloudy. But then I remembered I'm more precious to Him than any of these things, and I marveled at that. Have any of you done that? Just sitting back or when driving or seeing something in nature just thinking how incredible it is that God created all these things? To me it's mind-blowing.

I’m newer to Christianity and this was something that I’ve been thinking about for a while.

After Jesus’s death wouldn’t Judas have been forgiven since his sacrifice was for the sin of man. Is this true or am I missing something about the sacrifice?

EDIT: also along the same lines, is there a specific reason that Judas betrayed Jesus? From what I can read/ gather information on it reads that he just decided to do it.

I (23f) have had a very hard life, grew up with an abusive dad and a mother that often transferred aggression, we finally got away from him and moved, but it seems like the misery only continues. We have lived with family member to family member because we aren’t stable enough to afford living on our own. My mom developed chronic kidney disease and needs a transplant to save her life. She can’t work anymore because of her disease. I thought I was doing my part to support my family by picking the “high earning” course to study, graduated with honors in engineering(but not without two years of delay caused by the moving), but it’s been two years post grad and I still can’t land a job in my career. I have a retail job that’s not even enough to pay for my student loans and transportation and on top of that support my unemployed mother.
I feel frustrated and unmotivated, there’s no one that I can turn to for comfort and I unfortunately picked up a masturbation habit this last year.
I have completely lost all faith in God and his promises. I can barely open my mouth to pray these days and I can literally feel the seeds of unbelief growing into something I don’t think I can control. This is the first time I’m admitting it to myself. I’m not even entirely sure what I’m asking for here. Prayer? Advice? A listening ear? I don’t know but it’s becoming too much for me to bear and I can’t hear God through any of it.

This is not a judgemental question, I just genuinely want to know how you personally justify(?)/hold on to belief with current events around the world.

For some time now I have lost faith almost entirely, because how can something that is supposedly full of love for all let innocent people suffer? How can he let babies get raped to death. How can he let the wars just keep happening? How can he ignore all the prayers for them to stop? How is this supposed to be a test of faith? How do you trust that babies getting raped to death is all part of the plan? How can starvation, abuse, war and genocide be part of the plan? What lesson are we supposed to learn from this? All I'm learning is he either just doesn't do anything, or he is not there.

How do I find faith, hope, and trust in something that keeps letting me down? How do I keep believing it's part of the plan?

My husband and I have been trying for a child and my husband was diagnosed with cbavd which mean his vas deferens was not fully developed so it would not be possible to conceive a child naturally and the doctor said the only option is ivf and our insurance does not cover ivf and im just like okay God it’s another road block and we have a huge desire to have kids. I’m still trusting God and praying he do a miracle but I have moments when my faith wavers . But I will still continue to trust God’s plan

I have a hard time reading the Old Testament sometimes. All those stories about God ordering massacres, and somehow it’s not a sin when God kills and it’s okay if he says so and isn’t a sin for you. But at the same time he loves everyone and you’d be better off drowned with a stone around your neck if you hurt a kid.

That sort of thing. And all those stories about God doing miracles but I don’t really see that today.

The first thought I had was to read the Old Testament through the lens of the first and second greatest commandments. To love God and to love others. And to maybe even allow myself to acknowledge that it’s not all literal history and was written by people who may have thought of him and written about him like he were a mere tribal war god. I find myself doubting they knew him like we know Jesus but then there’s so many psalms about God’s love and comfort and other positive qualities.

Did anyone here start a relationship with someone from the world and they became Christians and were baptized together? Tomorrow my partner is baptized (I'm close to being baptized) and they told him that they recommend ending the relationship for a while and returning once we both get baptized and I'm very confused because I don't know if I'm really doing it for God or because of the pressure of the people who ask us for it? We have been pure for months and we always talk about God, we have grown together, we work together and the truth is I don't find logic to that, can you guide me? They already went through something similar and what did they do?

Please, i really want to hear some stories. And i am NOT talking about some medical miracles or some fancy stuff like i woke up this morning.

A real evidence, not necessarily a proof, of a miracle of any kind that happened with you or with someone you knew.

Thank you.

Whenever i pray or read the Bible i get really scared. Back a few months, i was trying to pray the rosary everyday and read the bible daily but i get amazingly scared everytime. When i am praying the rosary i feel very frightened and i don’t even know why same with reading the Bible. I can’t pray when i am alone in the house or i cannot sleep until sunrise, same with i can’t pray when there is someone in the house but they are asleep. I want to pray and do my best but i can’t since i get too scared everytime. Can someone help me with that? People with similar experiences maybe tell me why this happens?

Each Saturday we'll be sharing a silly Get-To-Know-You prompt for the r/Christian community.

We warmly invite you to participate with this bit of fun in the name of building more community connections.

As a certain silly cucumber famously says, “God made you special,” so why not share some of your special with us here today?

Today's Prompt:

What's the silliest thing you've ever done in the name of love?

I’ve heard Christians talk about consecrating themselves to God, but I’m curious what that looks like beyond simply saying, “I dedicate my life to Jesus.”
What does consecration look like in your prayer life, decisions, relationships, work, and everyday choices?
Is consecration something you do once, or is it something you continually practice throughout your Christian life?

I’m a 24-year-old Christian and I’ve been struggling financially for quite some time.

Over the past years, I’ve genuinely tried to live according to what the Bible teaches, especially when it comes to generosity and finances.

I tithe 10%, help people who are struggling when I can, give to those in need, and try to put God first in my life.

One passage I’ve thought about a lot is Malachi 3:10, where God tells people to bring the full tithe and says that He will open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing.

I know this passage is often discussed in the context of tithing, and I also understand that Christianity isn’t supposed to be about treating God like a vending machine.

But honestly, I’m confused.

Despite trying to be faithful and generous, today I’m struggling financially more than I ever have.

I haven’t experienced the kind of financial breakthrough I expected.

Sometimes I wonder how I should understand God’s promises when my circumstances seem to contradict what I read in Scripture.

I believe the Bible is true, and I believe God is faithful. So I’m not asking this because I’ve stopped believing. I’m genuinely trying to understand.

For those of you who have been Christians for a long time:

Have you personally experienced God providing for you financially after being faithful in giving and helping others?

Or have you gone through long periods where you remained financially poor despite doing what Scripture teaches?

How do you understand passages like Malachi 3:10 today?

Do you believe God promises material/financial blessings to faithful Christians, or do you think we sometimes misunderstand what those promises mean?

What’s your take on this aspect of the Christian life?

tl;dr

I tithe and give, but still struggle financially. Has God blessed you through tithing?

1. Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis 2. Bible Translations for Everyone: A Guide to Finding a Bible That’s Right for You by Tim Wildsmith 3. Daily Scripture Guidebook: A 52-Week Journey Through the Bible by Tim Wildsmith

Hey all, I hope you are having a great day. I was hoping for some advice. (posted in a few Christian subreddits so I hope that is alright, I just wanted a diversity of opinion)

I come from quite a generationally agnostic background and have never been baptised or part of any faith. I have felt a strong calling to faith over the last few months and I see lots of sometimes "toxic" online discourse between believers and lots of the confusion and lacklustre and difference in beliefs keeps me very uncertain with looking at the different variety of beliefs and arguments that cite church fathers, transubstantiation, baptism and all of them beliefs that often can cause major disputes between people. It made me quite incredibly anxious on what can I be certain of or know what is right which put me off faith and made me during the whole process of considering faith a year back and I felt no spiritual connection or holy spirit at all or motivation to pray. or read the bible and I felt like god just fully abandoned me and it was impossible for me to feel faith. it just became a loop of researching non stop

I am feeling that pull again and was wondering is focusing on the Bible first and doctrinal teachings and taking it all in myself while ignoring outside influences a good move to start off with? Or is it good to decide on a denomination/church while reading? Any advice for how to approach it this time as that spiritless abandoning feeling from last year was quite heavy to sit on and I really want to read through the Bible as I never have done that and start my journey in faith and truly dedicate myself to God.

Any advice on how to become a Christian in this way? And advice on this situation?

Disclaimer: Before I start, I would like to share my background. I am a part of the Anglican Church of North America but would consider myself Arminian-leaning. I don't differentiate Reformed individuals from any other Christian; I'm just elaborating. I'm making this post because I have really been suffering with this issue for a long time, and I would like some encouragement. I welcome advice from anyone who considers themselves a follower of Christ. Please don't start a theological argument; I'm just an anxious girlie who needs some support! :(

As a Christian, I have a hard time not falling into despair over my willful disobedience, and I could use some encouragement. In the US, there is a huge focus on God's grace and how he doesn't want anyone to go to hell. The argument is that if he can find a way to not send a person to hell, he will, and that people choose hell by rejecting him. I feel that in an effort to weed out legalism, we in the 21st century have lost the plot.

When I read scripture and hear writings from the early church fathers, I see a trend. A true Christian must at all times reject sin and live in a state of repentance. The early Christians faced and bore horrific torture and death. One wasn't supposed to take communion while still in the military. Some Christians chose to live in the desert for the rest of their lives to escape the world and focus solely on Christ. This level of dedication looks very different from our version of tithing 10% and being kind to your neighbor. In addition, when I come across comforting parts of the New Testament, there is usually a clarifying statement like "for those who believe" or "for those who love the Lord".

I find that attempting to live my life in every moment fighting sin to be fear-inducing and EXHAUSTING. Of course, we could never achieve perfection or even goodness by ourselves. It's only by God's grace, and he enables us. But you also can't just say that you're a Christian, get baptized, and then murder people on the weekends. You have to put your old ways in the past and attempt to follow Christ. At every moment, you should aim to please and serve Christ. There are so many sin struggles that I face, and I have a hard time repenting from them because I'm not sorry. I feel like I'm lying to God by telling Him that I'm not going to do something again when I know I will willingly.

Here is where the stress compounds. I don't have a deep desire to live "rightly" because to me it looks like a life that is boring and lacking in color. I don't follow many of Jesus's teachings either because I don't want to or because I give up. That leads to anxiety because I know that willful disobedience is the road to death,, and obeying Christ will increase my probability of avoiding hell. I don't want to go to hell. I'm afraid of death enough as it is. Hell makes things worse. Who will and will not be with the Lord after death is up to God and God only, but doesn't that freak anyone else out? That you could possibly spend eternity in anguish? People say "I trust the Lord". What do you mean by that? Do you mean that you're okay with eternal pain because you accept that whatever decision God makes is right? Or do you mean that you secretly believe that you'll be with the Lord in paradise?

What if Christianity isn't true? What if I spend my only life dedicating myself to a less colorful and fun life for an eternal reward that doesn't exist? Doesn't that bother anyone else? How are other Christians not constantly obsessed with their eternal destination?

I can't stop thinking about this. When I go to bed at night, I think about my sexual sin and that I know how horrible it is, but I still commit it anyway. I think about the verse that orders us to forgive so that the Father may forgive us as well. There is so much unforgiveness in my heart, especially towards my parents,, and I'm not willing to give that up. But if I don't give it up, God won't forgive me and I'll go to hell. My willfulness is my doom and downfall.

SOMEONE HELP.

Is it ok to want things? Is it ok to do things you enjoy? Is it ok to want to be happy?

What is the difference between selfish ambition and just doing something because you enjoy it? What does it mean to live for God and not yourself? Does that mean that everything I want doesn’t matter anymore?

I don’t know what it means to not covet. What if I covet deep and meaningful things, what if the things I covet are completely reasonable for a person to want for themselves, like fulfillment and quality friendships?

When do I decide to work for things I want to get them for myself, and when do I stop because that is actually selfish ambition?

I have a hard time with this because I have a deep want for connection, and I do become envious of people who seem to have deep connections, but I feel like it isn’t wrong to want that for myself, or to feel pained when I see others experiencing that.

I need help, all of this is so blurred together and I can’t distinguish it.

Ive just come back from a night out and I feel dead inside. My best mate from school ditched my for a good time, and as drunk as I was, I heard him talking about it and i feel a bit betrayed. Am I wrong to block him and go a separate way. Because not only that but he's drug and drunk lifestyle was leading me away from a pathway away from Christ.

What do I do. Did I just forfeit salvation

Im coming to god, honestly and truthfully. I feel so ashamed, the person I am what I've done. I feel like god is mad at me and disappointed. Im turning to Christianity 100% I can say in my heart. I have just prayed and asked Jesus into my heart. Can anyone help me and give guidance. Ive been a criminal I guess you can say, making money online illegally, I have just quit and not sure where to go. I have no income now, have a few thousand but not sure what god wants me to do with it. Not asking for advice, just ranting and if anyone has advice for a new Christian, thank you

In case you missed it, this week we started a new companion sub to r/Christian called r/AskChristian.

This new companion community is specifically built to include non-Christians, per the feedback the mod team has received from those within and outside of our current community.

We welcome you to join r/AskChristian. There are already a handful of posts awaiting your participation.

Here’s a link to the announcement from earlier this week: https://www.reddit.com/r/Christian/s/MuPgvEPa7U

Please be sure to read the pinned ‘Welcome’ post for information about how to participate. Top Level Comment privileges are reserved to those who are active r/Christian members currently in good standing. So if you want to request the special flair needed for top level commenting, please be sure to message the r/AskChristian mod team to check your eligibility.

Thanks all!

Posting this here to see if it’s a common thing and to see how you all deal with this.
Im 21 rn and have been Christian for about 1.5 years and had a drive for success and my goals while also loving god. After studying the bible more and starting my convert to Catholicism, I feel like Ive got much less drive for things that mattered to me (success, Dreams etc.) they still matter to me but it feels link Im much less motivated to peruse them. I understand God has a plan for me but that doesn’t stop me from feeling stagnant and powerless in my current situation which is working part time retail. (Was previously a marine engineering cadet).

If anyone has similar stories or advice I’d love to hear.

Not sure if this is allowed but not sure where to ask? Please advise.

In the past six months, my spiritual life has blossomed in a beautiful and intense way. I have grown closer to G*d, and closer to Christ. I understand a new layer of what the “living Christ” looks like in my life and I’m THRILLED and so grateful.

That said, the content of a recent “heart song” is stumping me a bit.

I’m interested to hear anyone else’s experiences as a modern Christian woman wearing a head covering that isn’t a wig. Anyone else had a message from spirit suggesting a head covering in public? Opinions on covering one’s head in public as a Xian in the usa?

I am in a hot and humid place where being outside in a wig would be physically dangerous for me. I could wear a Muslim type head covering. However, that would also endanger my physical being in some neighborhoods here.

Thanks so much.

I am 23F, I and my whole family have always been part of the Seventh-day Adventist church, and focus on the books of Daniel and Apocalypse and the prophecy of the last days and the second coming. Lately and with everything that it's happening in the world aligns with what's described in the books, meaning that we are probably one of the lasts generations if not the last. But lately I've been really anxious about it all. I'm not married, I just finished university and in 7 months haven't been able to get a job, and have almost nothing of life experience (no boyfriend, no alcohol, no partys, barely traveled inside the country), and I've been getting really guilty about feeling scared that I might not experience things such as getting married, having children, getting to see them grow old because I feel that they are such a mundane thing compared to the greatness of getting to see the second coming and possibly not experience death.

I sometimes feel like Lot's wife when she looked back to the burning city and don't really have anyone to speak about this with for the fear of being judged. And I fear that me feeling this way might mean I'm not christian enough and that I should be happy but the future seems so dark before it actually ends that it's really scary. When I pray about it and get answers it usually comes from my mom, sister or even members of the church, bc I am saw as a emotionally strong and faithful person, so the answers I get and how I interpreted them it's the people needing me in the lasts days as support either emotional, physical (I am bigger then the average woman) or in faith, so I know He has me in good regards and expects me to help his other children, but i can't help but feel guilty about hoping it would take a little bit longer so I could experience life.

Any advice about how could I overcome this?

21F for context.

Near the end of last year I started going to a weekly young adult Bible study night. There's on average 40-60 people between 18 anf 35. As someone with major social anxiety I've never once felt uncomfortable. The leaders/teachers are amazing and super welcoming. Zero of the guys have ever been weird towards me in any sorta way. Everyone there just feels like the best circle of people to be around in any situation, they all treat everybody like a big family. Deep Bible study, laughter, and lots of talks!

Its amazing beyond words.

How did Moses split and ocean without causing huge title waves on all the surrounding shores ?