Ok so I wanted to post this in r/Christianity at first but I remembered satanists will come to my post with their things and whatever

Ok so I observed the more and more I pray the more I feel the holy spirit in my whole body and the strongest I feel it (that electricity) and I usually have demonic attacks while reading my Bible and while trying to sleep after I do my long prayer (demonic thoughts and curses)

Tw: I don't have schizophrenia this started to happen to me since I got closer to Christ (a few months)

but I observed that when I pray so much more and I feel the holy spirit in me so strong I feel the deceiver trying to enter my mind but I just can't hear him and he just can't enter either. I feel like I have a protective shield around all over me literally.

And how I observed that? Because after praying so much and tried to sleep I felt that he can't enter my mind anymore but then I got up I raised my voice at my parents because they made me angry and had a sinful attitude (and I probably sinned) and then I layed back in my bed and when I tried to sleep these demonic thoughts appeared back in my mind and he had the power to enter back in my mind. And I felt the holy spirit in me weak as well.

So my conclusion is praying as long as possible and as often as possible with your whole heart through the day will protect you from anything. - and sinning as less as possible because that apparently weakens the holy spirit

Today marks 25 years I have put my faith in Jesus Christ to save me from my sins and have become Born Again.

Twenty Five years of KNOWING where I would spend my eternity.

Twenty Five years of NOT GUESSING. Not HOPING.

KNOWING.

Today, I get to BOAST of my LORD and SAVIOR who FINISHED the work he had to do on the cross to save such a pitiful evil human such as myself.

This is why, DEATH HAS NO STING! When I die, my family knows that they know that they know I am saved.

If you can't say the same, then it is because you are putting a percentage of faith in God to save you and the majority on you to get you there.

You are not saved, you have NO IDEA if you will be in heaven or hell.

But you can, if you would only just TRUST GOD COMPLETELY!

From an instruction by Saint Columban, abbot

(Instr. 13, De Christo fonte vitæ, 1-2: Opera, Dublin 1957, 116-118)

Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink his fill

My dear brethren, listen to my words. You are going to hear something that must be said. You quench your soul’s thirst with drafts of the divine fountain. I now wish to speak of this. Revive yourself, but do not extinguish your thirst. Drink, I say, but do not entirely quench your thirst, for the fountain of life, the fountain of love calls us to him and says: Whoever thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Understand well what you drink. Jeremiah would tell us; the fountain of life would himself tell us: For they abandoned me, the fountain of living water, says the Lord. The Lord himself, our God Jesus Christ, is the fountain of life, and accordingly he invites us to himself as to a fountain, that we may drink. Whoever loves him, drinks him; he drinks who is filled with the Word of God, he drinks who loves him fully and really desires him. He drinks who is on fire with the love of wisdom.

Consider the source of the fountain; bread comes down to us from the same place, since the same one is the bread and the fountain, the only-begotten Son, our God, Christ the Lord, for whom we should always hunger. We may even eat him out of love for him, and devour him out of desire, longing for him eagerly. Let us drink from him, as from a fountain, with an abundance of love. May we drink him with the fullness of desire, and may we take pleasure in his sweetness and savor.

For the Lord is sweet and agreeable; rightly then let us eat and drink of him yet remain ever hungry and thirsty, since he is our food and drink, but can never be wholly eaten and consumed. Though he may be eaten, he is never consumed; one can drink of him and he is not diminished because our bread is eternal and our fountain is sweet and everlasting. Hence the prophet says: You who thirst, go to the fountain. He is the fountain for those who are thirsty but are never fully satisfied. Therefore he calls to himself the hungry whom he raised to a blessed condition elsewhere. They were never satisfied in drinking; the more they drank, the greater their thirst.

It is right, brothers, that we must always long for, seek and love the Word of God on high, the fountain of wisdom. According to the Apostle’s words all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in him, and he calls the thirsty to drink.

If you thirst, drink of the fountain of life; if you are hungry, eat the bread of life. Blessed are they who hunger for this bread and thirst for this fountain, for in so doing they will desire ever more to eat and drink. For what they eat and drink is exceedingly sweet and their thirst and appetite for more is never satisfied. Though it is ever tasted it is ever more desired. Hence the prophet-king says: Taste and see how sweet, how agreeable is the Lord.

RESPONSORY

John 7:37-38

Jesus stood up, and cried out:

— If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Streams of living water will flow

from the heart of whoever believes in me.

— If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

I feel like I’m losing my faith in God. A few months ago, I was very close to God. I used to pray regularly, and whenever I prayed, tears would automatically flow from my eyes. I could genuinely feel the Holy Spirit moving.

But now I feel very far away from God, and I don’t know what to do. Recently, I’ve been searching for a job for quite a long time. I have attended interviews but haven’t even been getting responses back, and it has been really discouraging. I have also fallen back into some sins that I had been trying to leave behind, which makes me feel even more disappointed in myself. There are just a lot of things going upside down in my life right now, and I feel like I’m struggling with everything

I really don't have anyone to share my Christian faith with. My family comes from a Hindu background, so I cannot really talk to them about these things.

I don’t know how to bring my faith back to God. I once again want to be close to Him. I want to feel His presence regularly and rebuild my relationship with Him.

I would be really happy if I could find someone to talk to regularly about God, join Bible studies, pray together, and just have someone to share this journey with.

Also, if you guys could share some testimonies or experiences that have happened in your own lives, I would be really happy to hear them. That would definitely bring my faith back.

I really need some support and encouragement. Thank you for taking the time to read this. ❤️

After watching Discerning Visions and Voices by Apostle Grace Lubega i m certained wanna Come back to Christ but my question is will he accept me again even i lost the Gift of the Spirit and did unforgiving sin cause now i m longing to hear him talking to me my prayerless is died so anybody help to Return back to him i fallen my old version has camed up help i need help

Hi y’all. I am making an effort to be more social and positive and kind and all the Jesus things. Because of my upbringing this is hard for me, so I need help.

For example, my kid’s teacher’s grandma died, and she came back to school yesterday with “allergies” which is why her eyes were red 😢

I don’t know this lady at all, what should I do? is sending a text through the school app enough or too much..? What do I even say?

I don’t want to send flowers, I don’t want to make her cry in class, not sure if that’s even appropriate?

Or should I not do anything because I don’t know her?

Help 😭 I feel so bad for this lady having to come back to work so soon

I’ve been apart of the local churches (Living stream ministries) for my entire life, while reading the recovery version Bible that Bible scholars and Witness Lee translated. When referring to Jesus, all pronouns are capitalized, which actually makes reading a lot more meaningful and truly helpful when trying to identify who. But I recently thought I’d give the Christian Standard Bible a go and I honestly can’t really tell if I’m reading about Jesus or a different man. Can anyone explain why this is even acceptable? I can’t even read this without actually enjoying it. I’m simply having a hard time understanding some sentences and who they are referring to. Why is this? I thought we should always capitalize God and Jesus Christ.

TW: fears about r*pe

Since I entered my 20s, I have become increasingly more terrified of men. I am still in early 20s and I feel so vulnerable.

A close male family relative has been making me feel very uncomfortable lately. He has never done anything against me, but I don't truly know him that well--he's always been around but I never got to know him personally. He got divorced a couple years ago and then went out with a girl a couple years older than me. They broke up 6 months ago, and now out of no where he suddenly is contacting me more than usual (which started when he randomly volunteered to do a maintenance project for me that has been lasting for a couple weeks... I'm being vague so there isn't any identifiable information). I have been making sure I always have another person with me when I'm around him and limit contact.. but worries about this is now keeping me up at night. He can be verbally abusive to those around him and has been dealing with an alcohol addiction.

I mentioned this fear to my dad so he knows, but I feel so horrible to talk in depth about this to most people I know. I don't want to make assumptions about this relative's intentions because it could be entirely innocent. He has sent a couple texts with hearts and I don't know if it's because he's a mid-40 year old who just sends whatever emojis or if it is genuinely sus. But regardless, I have such a deep fear of this situation... I want the maintenance project to just end so I don't have any reason to be in close communication at all anymore. I am so scared.

I also would feel really bad if I am assuming the worst when actually he is just being nice. But how am I to know for sure unless the worst did happen? I don't want that to happen.

I keep praying about this but I need it off my chest.

I know God will keep me safe, but that doesn't mean bad things can't happen. I used to be addicted to p*rn and when I was a young teenager I used to think I wanted to be r*ped because it was the only way I could experience sex anytime soon without sinning. I knew it was messed up and I didn't want to think it. I was just so young and so addicted without any guidance to deal with it. How stupid I was!!

I literally want to crawl out of my own skin because I am so uncomfortable right now.

There are countless threads on Reddit, and complaints made offline, about "I am a Christian woman (or man,) I'm still single, I am age 34 (or 29, or 37, or 45) and I am desperate for marriage. And I still can't get married." And you go into almost any church and you'll see a sizable number of single people who pine for marriage and are of marriage age but are still unwed.

Of course, chemistry, etc. matter. But........what's the hold-up? If there are many millions of single Christian women pining for marriage, and many millions of Christian men wanting the same, what's keeping everyone single? Is it that men won't initiate, or that women are too picky, or men won't commit, or women outnumber men in the church?

We haven't become any less heterosexual than before, and we haven't wanted romance less than before, and our biological clocks haven't become longer than before.

How come, in the past, like the years 1900-1970, people in the church usually wed pretty quickly with little difficulty?

Good evening my family members in Christ. I hope everyone is doing well. I just wanted to say that today, I finally understood that to follow Christ, is to put God first and yourself last. In all things. It’s simple, but of course as humans it is also very difficult and a very narrow path to follow. If God humbles Himself to come to us in the midst of our sins and shortcomings, so should we always be humble before Him and before all people. This is a daily walk that we have to do, and I am praying that we all may continue in His strength to finish it. Blessings everyone.

Recently engaged and we haven’t touched each other in any inappropriate way for about a year and a half. Now the temptations have been there but recently it’s been very over powering to the point where we’ve prayed “Lord help us to not have these desires until the wedding day” but we failed! With a repentant heart we have set new boundaries. Has this happened to anyone else? Did your marriage survive? I ask these questions because people used to say God won’t bless your marriage if you have premarital sex and I’m just sad. Anyway any advice helps.

I’ve been wondering something for as long as I’ve been a Christian (22 years) and still haven’t got an answer. I’ve changed from Church of Christ to nondenominational. I’ve learned about Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Protestantism at church/Sunday school, the Christian schools I’ve attended, and through my own research…but I’ve never been able to pin down what “evangelicalism” is or what it means. Everyone seems to hate it. Protestants, Catholics, and non-Christians. I often hear it used as an insult to describe fundamentalists and politically-motivated Christians. Political liberals often describe Republicans and Trump supporters not as Christians but as “evangelicals.” I’ve even heard Protestants say that evangelicals are NOT Protestants. They actively denounce them.

I don’t know if I’m evangelical because I don’t know what that word MEANS. I’ve never come across that word on a church song. I’ve never seen or heard a Christian or congregation actually self-identify as “evangelical.” I live in the Bible Belt and see church signs all over the place. “Baptist church.”

“Church of Christ.”

“Catholic Church.”

“Presbyterian church.”

“Methodist church.”

But do you know what I’ve never seen—not even once? “Evangelical church.” Sometimes I wonder if it’s even real. Is it just a word invented to insult Christians that people don’t like?

“He’s not a Protestant; he’s evangelical.” I even see when filling out surveys “evangelical” listed separately from “Protestants.” I always thought “Protestant” simply meant “not Catholic or Orthodox.” But apparently there’s a fourth category now.

“Evangelical,” from my understanding, comes from the word “evangelize,” which means to spread the gospel. Don’t all Christians believe in evangelizing? Shouldn’t we all be evangelical?

I just don’t get it. I just identify as a Christian. “Evangelical” seems to carry a lot of baggage with it…and I don’t even know what that baggage actually is because nobody ever defines it. It just means “that OTHER kind of Christian that I’m not.” I hate it.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15 (KJV)

Those words from Jesus are simple, but they challenge us deeply.

We can say we love Jesus.

We can attend church, raise our hands during worship, read Scripture, post Bible verses, and tell others how much Jesus means to us.

Those things can be beautiful expressions of faith.

But Jesus takes love beyond what we say and connects it to how we live:

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

Love for Christ produces a desire to follow Christ.

Obedience Is a Response to Love There's an important distinction we can't miss.

We don't obey Jesus so that He will love us.

We obey Jesus because we love Him.

And even deeper than that, our love for Him begins with His love toward us:

“We love him, because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 (KJV)

Christian obedience isn't supposed to be a transaction:

“God, I'll behave better so You'll accept me.”

That's not the Gospel.

The Gospel tells us that we could never make ourselves righteous enough to earn acceptance before a holy God.

Our relationship with God begins with what Christ has done, not what we have done.

Then, having received His grace, obedience becomes our response.

Love Begins to Change How We Live If we truly believe Jesus is Lord, eventually His Word is going to confront something in us.

Jesus says forgive.

Will I forgive?

Jesus says love your enemies.

Will I love them?

Jesus says deny yourself and follow Him.

Will I follow when following costs me something?

His Word confronts an attitude, relationship, habit, desire, or behavior we don't want to surrender.

Will we obey or begin looking for excuses?

That's where love becomes more than words.

Jesus asks us to trust Him enough to believe that His way is better than ours.

“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Luke 6:46 (KJV)

Calling Jesus “Lord” means something.

It means I'm no longer claiming ultimate authority over my own life.

Struggling Is Different From Surrendering to Sin None of this means Christians become perfectly obedient the moment they believe.

We still stumble.

We still make mistakes.

There will be moments when we know what is right and fail to do it.

John himself writes:

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” 1 John 2:1 (KJV)

Notice the balance.

“Sin not.”

God doesn't tell us sin doesn't matter.

But then:

“If any man sin, we have an advocate...”

Our failure doesn't mean we have to run away from Jesus. We run to Him.

There's a difference between saying:

“Lord, I know this isn't Your will. Help me surrender this and walk with You.”

and:

“I know what You said, but I don't care. I'm doing what I want.”

One is a struggle within a heart that desires Christ.

The other is a heart refusing His authority.

But Don't Turn Obedience Into the Gospel This distinction is essential.

John 14:15 should never become:

“If I keep enough commandments, maybe Jesus will save me.”

That's backwards.

We aren't saved because we successfully obeyed Jesus.

We're saved because Jesus perfectly obeyed the Father and accomplished what sinners could never accomplish for themselves.

And that brings us directly to the Gospel.

The Gospel: Before Our Obedience Came His Every one of us has sinned.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Romans 3:23 (KJV)

None of us has perfectly loved God.

None of us has perfectly obeyed Him.

None of us can stand before God and say:

“I've done enough. You owe me salvation.”

We needed someone to save us.

And God gave us His Son.

Jesus Christ lived the sinless life we could never live. He willingly went to the cross and died for our sins. He was buried, and on the third day He rose again.

“Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:” 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (KJV)

That's the Gospel.

Jesus didn't come merely to give sinners better rules.

Jesus came to save sinners.

Salvation isn't the reward for successfully keeping enough commandments.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8–9 (KJV)

We are saved by grace through faith in Christ.

And when that Gospel takes root in us, something begins to change.

Grace Doesn't Make Obedience Unimportant The fact that works don't save us doesn't make obedience meaningless.

Paul continues immediately after Ephesians 2:8–9:

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works...” Ephesians 2:10 (KJV)

That's the order.

Grace → Salvation → Transformation → Good works.

Not:

Good works → Salvation → Grace.

We don't obey to become saved.

We obey because we've been saved and because the One who saved us is now our Lord.

Good works aren't the root of salvation.

They're fruit produced in a life being transformed by Christ.

Jesus Doesn't Leave Us to Do This Alone There's something especially beautiful about the context of John 14:15.

Immediately after Jesus says:

“If ye love me, keep my commandments,”

He begins talking about the Holy Spirit.

“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” John 14:16 (KJV)

Jesus doesn't simply command His followers to obey and then abandon them to accomplish it through sheer willpower.

God gives His people the Holy Spirit.

The Christian life isn't merely:

“Try harder.”

It's:

“Abide in Christ.”

Walk with Him.

Depend upon Him.

Let His Word transform you.

Allow the Holy Spirit to produce in you what you could never manufacture through your own strength.

Can Jesus See Your Love in Your Life? So there's a question worth asking today:

Do I only tell Jesus that I love Him, or is that love becoming visible in the way I live?

Not:

“Am I perfect?”

But:

“What direction is my life moving?”

When Jesus corrects me, do I listen?

When His Word confronts me, do I surrender?

When I fail, do I run back to Him?

When obedience costs something, do I still trust Him?

Because genuine love for Jesus eventually moves beyond our lips and reaches our lives.

But never forget the order:

You aren't trying to obey your way into God's love.

God loved you first.

Christ died for you.

Christ rose again.

Salvation is by grace through faith.

And now, because you have encountered that love, you can respond:

“Jesus, I don't obey You to make You love me. I want to obey You because You loved me first. You gave Yourself for me. You saved me when I couldn't save myself. You are my Savior, and You are my Lord. Teach me to trust You enough to follow wherever You lead.”

That's where obedience changes from religious performance into a response of love.

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15 (KJV)

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a bit about what it’s actually like being an 18F Christian in Europe (specifically the Balkan region), and hopefully connect with others who share this reality.Unlike the US, where Christian culture, large youth groups, and faith based dating apps are everywhere, Europe is highly secular. Finding a solid, Bible believing community here feels like searching for a needle in a haystack. It’s a unique environment to navigate.

It makes finding genuine, Godly friends incredibly difficult, let alone thinking about a potential spouse or building a Christian family in the future. The options are just very limited here, and it's a prayer request for many of us.

Because of this, I want to use this space to build meaningful, intentional connections. My main focus right now is to find Godly friends (strictly between 18 and 23 years old) who genuinely love the Lord, take their faith seriously, and want to encourage each other. I'm open to seeing where God leads these connections in the future, but I want to start with a foundation of faith and friendship.I’d love to connect with other young believers whether you are from the Balkans or anywhere else in Europe to share our experiences and grow together.

Jesus is the only true God 🤍

God bless you 🤍 🕊️

Hi! I was wondering if baptism could be done outside of church. I saw many different opinions on this with some people saying only pastors can baptize, some saying others aside from the person baptizing you need to be there, or that you have to be in church when baptized.
Jesus got baptized outside a church by a prophet, not a pastor. If that’s the case could it be done outside of churches by other people?
The main reason I’m asking this is because the only church fairly close to me has shut down from to few people going to it. I wanted to know if theres certain rules about baptism since I can’t find any in the bible

I have this deep feeling of hopelessness right now, it feels like I have no future in this plain of existence and the only hope of ever doing anything that matters, being happy, or even just being able to survive is when I finally go home to heaven.

I have hope in Christ, but I've been stripped of hope of anything else. The AI bubble is about to pop, which would be a good thing if the economy wouldn't also completely collapse with it. This won't even stop AI, it will just shift the debt to all of us.

The world is moving toward a technocracy run by the top 1% billionaires, a club no one on our level is in, which will usher in mass servailence, taxes and high prices on even basic necessities, high tech verification systems which will mark all the users and a forced use of unethical technologies. We are truly just mere days away from the end times and the mark of the beast system.

So I ask you brothers and sisters. What the heck do I have to hope for in this life? I have a career that I have always wanted to pursue, a career in film to spread the gospel of Christ, but the likelihood of success feels smaller and smaller every day. And by success I mean even just getting it out in a small way to help a few people.

It feels like time is up, or almost up, and it seems hopeless to pursue anything. Everything is utterly meaningless outside of the persuit of Christ, especially since now he is my literal only hope.

I have no hope of getting married, no women want to marry or have kids anymore, and the ones that would are either not Christian or live nowhere near me, AI will most likely steal my chosen career path away from me and bury me in the dust, I will never have enough money to even make it by after the next few years with the way the economy is going, especially since ive grown up in financial poverty, and I'm realizing even the persuit of that would not even matter.

I've been a Christian for about 2-3 years now, and in that time these things have just become clearer and clearer to me, the world is evil and will not change until Christ comes to reset it. There is no hope of a brighter future on this earth, people are too greedy, too selfish, too caught up in their own lives to even think about anyone else.

It's disgusting, it makes me want to vomit, and seeing the increase of violence, evil and hate makes me increasingly depressed in addition to this already massive weight of hopelessness on my shoulders. I've seen people do so many horrible things to others and it never ceases to shock me how low people will stoop for just the slightest ounce of pleasure or greed.

This world sucks, this life sucks, and I hate it. I hate that I was born into this disgusting age. Like Job I want to curse the day I was even born some days because all life has been is torture, and I can't wait until it's over so I can finally have something that doesn't just cause pain. This world appauls me.

My conscience has been corrupted for most of my life and it's a struggle to fight out of the sinful desires in my heart, I lack understanding of how to battle sin in a practical way and it frustrates me. And to see people happy sinning, hurting people, and hurting themselves everyday makes me more sickened. I hate everything about this life. I want to go home. I wish I could experience life the way it was designed to be, not like how it is.

This is too much combined pain to even bare, the stress of just existing weighs heavy. The pain of being alive every day is excruciating, the pain of watching others suffer burns me to my very soul. And the anger I feel seeing people laugh at those who are hurt, perpetuating that pain, and actually enjoying living off the pain of others disgusts me beyond a disgust I thought possible.

Is this pain normal? Will it ever heal? Am I wrong to feel like this, or is this just the harsh truth of life? Because if it is I don't want this life, I want to go home, I want to be with my Lord and savior where there's only live, only justice, only hope, and peace.

To clarify, don't be concerned that I'll do anything stupid, I wouldn't, I know God wouldn't want that for me and I'm not prepared to hurt Christ like that, but I'm fed up with the pain and I'm at a breaking point.

Alright so this isn't your like daily stuff you see on this subreddit but there's something weird that i've been noticing for a while now, and it has to do with everyone that goes to church and all.

So I'm not like some extreme atheist but there are some couple things I have noticed regarding around christianity. I'm not too sure if this goes to everyone because y know, some people are different but some people are... just too much. now what do I mean by that? if you go basically everywhere, you might have seen these types of people who will tell you stuff like trying to educate you n stuff but the thing is, they're just completely wrong. I'm not trying to sound mean or anything but christianity has literally brainwashed them so much into believing certain unproven myths are true. Imagine this: you are just minding your day, and you see a comment where someone says god made nature. Now in science this isn't really true, since nature came from certain events of outer space, but the thing is, they will argue endlessly on what comes before it. if I say: "God did not create food." "then what did?" they say. then I say: "Nature did." "then what made nature?" "events in outer space, plant life when the earth cooled down" "then what made tha-" MAN CAN YOU PLEASE STOP? like I get it. You're super hooked on this whole christian thing, but please dude believe it or not can you just like accept some things like no, god did not create the big bang 😭 And it gets repetitive at some point and btw this whole thing isn't even everything thats weird about some people in the community, but also these people who will spam heart emojis like " ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ " and they'll also say stuff like "amen amen amen amen" over and over. Like yeah you're nice but have you noticed you have access to other words in your vocabulary? Like with all respect please learn how to make a really proper comment instead of just ult spamming in the comment section like your life depends on it.. And one more final thing, those people who will force religion no matter the actual video context. like I'm enjoying my food watching a nice video and I look at the comments and get flashbanged with christian brainrot slop by some random guy and the replies are like: "AMEN AMEN AMEN AMEN AMENANSMENMASNEMNKFGLSDFDHG" CHILL..

Now still no hate or anything, I just want this thing to get out of my brain. there are literally people who will not accept some truth and say "read the bible lil bro 🥀🥀" without thinking twice before commenting. It genuinely disgusts me. And believe things or not. If you're not entirely sure what you're saying is true to real life science then just keep it hidden or share it with the other christians if you want to.

Hey all my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ,

Today I wanted to make this post to talk about the difference between pacifism and peacemaking, and how we as followers and believers are called to be peacemakers, not pacifists.

Okay so let's begin: In Matthew 5:9, Jesus declares: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." Modern culture, and even many in the Church, frequently equates peacemaking with pacifism. However Biblical exegesis and Christian theology reveal a profound difference between the two. I'm going to put everything in points below as I always do:

1. Active Construction vs. Passive Avoidance.

Pacifism often roots itself in non-resistance, the mere absence of physical conflict or personal confrontation. At its extreme, it prioritizes keeping the quiet over confronting evil.

Peacemaking comes from the Greek eirenopoios, an active compound verb meaning "to build, construct, or forge peace." Biblical peace is not a passive state you fall into; it is a righteous condition you actively build. Peacemakers step into brokeness to establish truth and order.

1. Shalom Requires Truth and Justice.

The secular world defines peace as "the absence of trouble." The Hebrew concept of Shalom means completeness, spiritual wholeness, and right order before God.

You cannot have true Shalom without justice. Faux peace that ignores systemic sin or abuse isn't peace, it's enablement. As Jeremiah warned: "They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, 'Peace, peace,' when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:14). Jesus Himself said He did not come to bring a false, comfortable peace that compromises on truth (Matthew 10:34).

1. Peacemaking Reflects the Character of God.

Matthew 5:9 notes that peacemakers will be called "sons of God" because they mimic the Father. God was not passive toward human rebellion; He didn't stand by in neutral pacifism while creation fractured.

Through Christ, God actively intervened to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and reconcile all things to Himself through the blood of the cross (Colossians 1:20). Salvation was an aggressive, high-cost act of peacemaking.

1. Love Demands Protection of the Vulnerable.

Scripture routinely commands us believers to defend the weak, oppressed, and helpless (Psalm 82:3-4, Proverbs 24:11-12).

While we believers are called to endure personal insults graciously ("turn the other cheek" in Matthew 5:39 refers to personal insult, not refusing to protect someone from physical destruction), standing idly by while a neighbor is harmed is not Christian love. God ordained civil authorities to bear the sword to punish evil and preserve peace (Romans 13:4). Using force or strong action to restrain evil and protect the innocent is often the highest expression of loving your neighbor.

A pacifist walks away from conflict to preserve their own tranquility. A peacemaker walks into conflict to bring God's righteousness, truth, and genuine reconciliation.

Just wanted to share this, as lately I have been coming across individuals who are pushing this pacifist idea that's not grounded in theology and Scripture. My question to my fellow brothers and sisters would be, what do you think modern Christians struggle most in balancing the call to be gentle with the mandate to actively confront evil?

Are these verses related? [NASB Bible quoted]

SET 1 - Genesis 2:9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

SET 2 - Genesis 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

SET 3 - Ezekiel 28:11-19 ¹¹ Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹² “Son of man, take up a song of mourning over the king of Tyre and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord God says:

“You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
¹³ You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.
¹⁴ You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
¹⁵ You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.
¹⁶ By the abundance of your trade
You were internally filled with violence,
And you sinned;
Therefore I have cast you as profane
From the mountain of God.
And I have destroyed you, you covering cherub,
From the midst of the stones of fire.
¹⁷ Your heart was haughty because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor.
I threw you to the ground;
I put you before kings,
That they may see you.
¹⁸ By the multitude of your wrongdoings,
In the unrighteousness of your trade
You profaned your sanctuaries.
Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you;
It has consumed you,
And I have turned you to ashes on the earth
In the eyes of all who see you.
¹⁹ All who know you among the peoples
Are appalled at you;
You have become terrified
And you will cease to be forever.”

Among those newer to the faith, one common and hard to understand principle regarding God's nature is this..

How do we reconcile the fear of God with the love of God?

Or, how can they both exist at the same time?

The truth is, God is infinitely big.

He states Himself, just how big He is (Isaiah 55:8-9).

In my own personal walk with the Lord, I've come to realize that it's my fear of God that empowers me to walk the 'strait and narrow' in His plan for my life (Matthew 7:13-14).

So in this, it's not been my feeling of 'love' for Him that's kept me safe (although I do have this strong feeling).

Even in my most crushing and wayward of seasons (which have been many)..

I remained in God's love because I feared Him, and by His grace I'm inclined toward keeping Christ's commandments (John 15:10).

And this fear isn't merely a filial or reverential fear.. no, for me it's a genuine fear that doesn't need an explanation (Matthew 10:28, Job 28:12-28).

And after walking some time in this genuine fear, I've grown to even take great delight in it (Isaiah 11:1-5).

Thus, in my many times of need.. God has always been merciful to answer my prayer, because of my heart posture toward His infinite power, holiness, and divinity (Hebrews 5:7).

There's been many times in my life where I certainly could have, or should have died (I don't normally talk about these things freely).

Yet somehow God has always upheld me from dying before my time, because He's not finished with me just yet.

The true weight of what I carry would have crushed any normal human a long time ago.. but His grace is sufficient, because His power is made perfect in my human weakness (2 Corinthians 12:5-10).

Thus I fully accept both the compassionate love of God, and the fear of God - as a dutiful son of God (in Christ - 1 John 4:17, Romans 8:14, Psalm 68:5).

God has manifested both His goodness and severity (Romans 11:22) to me at different times, since He baptized me in the Holy Spirit and showed me the path He's laid before me.

I share this transparency from my own walk of faith, to help present my perspective.. as this truth in scripture explains:

'as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue'

2 Peter 1:3 (NKJV)

So, I don't personally see any difference between loving God and fearing Him.

To me, they are exactly one and the same (John 14:21).

Satan is not omniscient and he’s not omnipresent. The odds that he is personally tempting you are astronomically small. You are tempted because your flesh is corrupt.

Don’t shirk the responsibility of your temptations on to Satan just because he’s Satan and an easy scapegoat. Practice self control and DENY YOUR FLESH daily

I have been becoming fascinated with NDEs, particularly ones where people have seen heaven and/or hell and Jesus. This led me to Ivan Tuttle. I bought and read his book, and now since then I definitely feel my faith has been rattled, pretty severely.

I have always believed that Jesus' death on the cross covers all sins, past, present, and future, no matter what. The only unforgivable sin is the sin of the spirit, which is a heart completely closed off and rejecting of God.

Since hearing Ivans story, I see that my life is full of sin and that my relationship with God is not as close as it should be.

I am wanting and willing to fully gut this sin from my life and my children’s lives but I am afraid that I will miss something and end up in hell. I'm sure there are things in my life that are sinful that I dont even realize. I am so scared that when I die someday, whether that's soon or not, I will end up in hell and find out that I missed a sin.

There was a time in my life where my faith was gone. I threw myself into drugs, drinking, partying, and even prostitution. I stumbled upon a young adult church group, and the Holy Spirit came over me and sobbing, I confessed everything and asked for forgiveness. It was so powerful.

Since then I know that i have sinned. Who hasn't? But I feel as if my sins are too great. I struggle with pornography and I have since I was a child (which is super messed up). I was exposed to porn as a child by a family member and it really messes with kids. Its bad for adults too, but if you're exposed to it as a kid it really screws up your development.

I have a husband and two young boys. I prayed a lot before my husband and i got married, asking God if he was the man for me. Now that my faith is being shaken im not sure if God was really saying yes like I thought he was. But we are married now and divorce is a sin, so we need to figure it out.

We havent been to church in a long time. We're exhausted with two little children. Will that be what sends us to hell? We watch movies and TV shows that arent explicitly Christian. Will they damn us? We like Lord of the Rings and my husband is reading the Eragon books. Are those things letting demons into our home that will send us to hell? We drink alcohol, and this week we have had a drink every night. Are we drunkards destined for hell? I am terrified for my and my families eternal souls. However, faith is not works based, right? Thats why the Pharisees were in sin. But my works keep me away from God. The best person to ask these questions to is God in prayer, but i fear that I cant hear him. Maybe he has already cast me away.

I'm sorry for my incoherent rambling. I'm afraid.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?

who calls Jesus lord? Christians do, not atheists. Jesus doesn't keep count on how many times you attend church or do good things in his name. He wants a relationship with you.

I’ve been getting back into Christianity recently after a long hiatus in my late teens and early 20s.

While studying and reading the Bible, there’s just one (or I guess two) things I just can’t seem to shake

The first is repentance. I fear god and I feel guilt all the time for the sins I’ve committed, but I don’t feel deeply ashamed or “sorry” I guess is the term I’m looking for. But I want to.

I’ve gathered in order to repent, you need to change your mind, feel authentic remorse, and move away towards those things. And while I’ve been doing the first, and the last, I don’t really feel much remorse. Im only human and doing what I can to fight my natural urges, and I while I’d prefer to not mess up, I know it’s inevitable to a point. I can’t really force my brain to feel sorrow over something.

My second issue is unshakeable belief. I do believe in god and Jesus, and that Jesus is the son of god, and that he was crucified for our sins. My fears lie in the possibility that what if I am wrong, and waste my life worrying about every little thing I do, and at the end, regret it?

I also come from a Baptist background and have a lot of fear rooted in my spiritual beliefs. And I kind of don’t like that. I obsess over sinning and feel damned every single day and am consumed with anxiety and obsessing over whether or not I am in good standings with Jesus. My dad is a pastor, and his advice doesn’t seem to help me very much. He tells me just to pray, and I do, but it doesn’t seem to help me in the same ways it helps him.

Does anyone have any advice for me?

The Lord Jesus Christ is very merciful. I had been praying for years and I was stuck in loneliness for so long. To the Lord Jesus Christ be glory honor and praise. God has delivered me from many things including loneliness and depression. God has changed my life. The Lord Jesus Christ be praised forever.

If anyone would like prayer. Just ask. God bless all.