“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16 (NIV)
Recently, I
had a friend ask me why I’m a Christian. So, I told him how I became one. He
said that most people answer with how they became a Christian, rather than
answering why. He told me why he’s a Christian, and it was a very good answer
that’s hard to exactly replicate. In short, he’s a Christian because of Christ.
He believes there’s nothing that makes him good or worthy of heaven except for
the fact that Christ died for him. He really made me think about why I have the
beliefs and views that I do, and I actually have an answer now (though not sure
I can top his, which was better explained by him).
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in
the Law? 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the
first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love
your neighbor as yourself.’” Matthew 22:36-39
I didn’t
grow up in a religious household, and I’ve never been to church consistently. I may not know a lot about scripture and God, but I do have very strong
beliefs and I’m not blind about my faith. I believe in knowledge, and learning
more about God and the context of the Bible should strengthen someone’s faith. I’ve come to
understand the core of Christianity, which is love. I’m a Christian because God
loves me. I try to be a Christ follower by loving him too. When I was in high
school, someone told me that Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a
relationship. That didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me back then, but as I
grew, I understood it a lot more.
In a loving
relationship, you do things for each other, not because of obligation, but
because you want to make the other person happy. So, Christians try to be good
people by obeying God’s laws so that we can make him happy. In a relationship,
you spend time learning about each other and listening to each other, which is similar to going to church, reading the Bible, and praying so that we can learn about God and speak with Him, as well as listen. God
isn’t meant to be an abstract deity that we worship so that he can bestow his
favor on us. We worship Him because we love Him, and because we are grateful
for His love. This is an intimate relationship that makes you eternally joyful and over flowing with love. But like every good relationship, it
requires a lot of work and doesn’t happen easily, or even naturally for a lot
of people
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But
after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy
to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” Matthew 3:11
(NIV)
The most
beautiful thing about my religion and relationship is this: I am loved
regardless of what I do or how I live my life. He will love me at my best, and
when I’m completely broken. It’s easy to accept love and to believe you’re
loved whenever you’re happy and doing good in life. However, how can you
believe anyone loves you when you’re having trouble loving yourself? There have
been times in my life when I felt so broken and unworthy of love. I’ve
repeatedly made the same mistakes that hurt others and myself. I’ve felt like a
terrible person, and at those times, I didn’t think I could go to anyone. I
didn’t think anyone could help me. But that’s the beauty of my faith in God, I
know that I am always loved by Him. He will always be there for me. He will
lift me up and make me clean and new again.
“16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit
that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are
heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his
sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” Romans 8:16-17 (NIV)
A parent’s
love is unconditional, and God, as the ultimate father, is even more so. My mom
often tells me that no matter what I do, she will always love me and never
abandon me. My dad tells me something similar, but adds that he wouldn’t enable
me to continue doing bad things. Because he loves me, he doesn’t want to see me
go down a bad path. God loves me like my parents, but in a purer form, and far
more than they ever could, which is a hard to concept to believe.
Why does
God love us? What have we done to deserve it? That’s like asking why your
parents love you. They love you because you were born, because you exist in
this world, because they helped in creating you. God created each and everyone
one of us. We are his children, so He loves us unconditionally.
"7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. " 1 John 4:7-10
Non-Christians
like to debate with me a lot about my religion and beliefs. They poke holes in
the Bible and bring up mistakes the Church has made now and throughout history.
They find every wrong thing with Christianity and Christians and use them as
reasons for not being a Christian, but are still “spiritual” and “believe that
God exists.” I believe that Christians as people are flawed, and so is the
Church, but the Bible, God’s word, is not. It’s just read out of context very
often and interpreted and misused in many ways. To me, all of these excuses are
not a good enough to not follow Christ. There’s too much good that God, the Church
and Christians have done that is way overlooked and often entirely ignored. As a Christian, I
have never been loved in such a way, and never will be by any living person.
So, I choose to be loved, and I choose to love the God that brought me into
this world. I choose to be a Christ follower. I choose to be a Christian.
p.s. The first time I knew that God spoke to me, I was in a
very low point in my life. I was depressed and felt very unloved. I was lonely
and in need of a lot of affection. I prayed to God and cried about how I knew I
was loved by my family and friends, but I didn’t feel it. Then he told me, “I
have loved you since before your parents knew you existed. I love you now. And I
will always love you.”
This is a good chapter to read Romans 5
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