completely new to christianity

[breadxg]

Hey everyone, I'm Breanne, I'm 19 years old and I just accepted Jesus into my life! It's something I have gone back and forth with all my life, mainly because I have had difficulty in believing in God in general, but I can't deny his existence any longer. There's a few problems in my conversion, however. My close family (my mom, dad, and 21 year old sister) who do not practice the religion whatsoever. The only Christianity that happens in our home is celebrating Christmas. So I'm basically on this journey all on my own, I would love for my family to join me in my beliefs, but do not want to become one of those pushy Bible lovers who forces their opinions on everyone (I have always resented it when people have done that to me, it's really something I have benefited from by figuring it out myself). But what if my family never gets there? My mom and grandfather especially are big on accepting all kinds of spirituality, and I have gone through that phase too, which is why I'm wondering if accepting Christ is another phase in my path too. I just don't want to accept the faith if it means I believe my whole family is damned to hell for not being a Christian. I also don't know how I'm supposed to act with my new faith now. I'm from the west coast, but now go to college at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, a place that feeds on promiscuity, booze, and superficiality. They have a Christian group at my school, but that probably means I'm going to lose some of my friends, namely the gay ones for choosing to do something different. I'm a little lost here, I know I'm supposed to ask Jesus for help, but its still new and some straight forward guidance from people who maybe know what I'm going through would be helpful. Thanks for any and all responses, it means alot.

 

[Caroline H]

Welcome to the site! It's wonderful to hear that you have accepted Jesus! I strongly encourage you to seek out Christian friends on your campus, because you are going to need all the support you can get. Being a Christian is not easy, but with help from the Lord and each other we can grow.

 

[theLords]

Hey everyone, I'm Breanne, I'm 19 years old and I just accepted Jesus into my life! It's something I have gone back and forth with all my life, mainly because I have had difficulty in believing in God in general, but I can't deny his existence any longer. There's a few problems in my conversion, however. My close family (my mom, dad, and 21 year old sister) who do not practice the religion whatsoever. The only Christianity that happens in our home is celebrating Christmas. So I'm basically on this journey all on my own, I would love for my family to join me in my beliefs, but do not want to become one of those pushy Bible lovers who forces their opinions on everyone (I have always resented it when people have done that to me, it's really something I have benefited from by figuring it out myself). But what if my family never gets there? My mom and grandfather especially are big on accepting all kinds of spirituality, and I have gone through that phase too, which is why I'm wondering if accepting Christ is another phase in my path too. I just don't want to accept the faith if it means I believe my whole family is damned to hell for not being a Christian. I also don't know how I'm supposed to act with my new faith now. I'm from the west coast, but now go to college at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, a place that feeds on promiscuity, booze, and superficiality. They have a Christian group at my school, but that probably means I'm going to lose some of my friends, namely the gay ones for choosing to do something different. I'm a little lost here, I know I'm supposed to ask Jesus for help, but its still new and some straight forward guidance from people who maybe know what I'm going through would be helpful. Thanks for any and all responses, it means alot.

Welcome!!

Can I just mention that you are NEVER alone. You are not on this journey alone. The greatest friend you could ever ask for is walking it with you!

Hebrews 13:5
I will never leave you nor forsake you.

As far as your family, the best way to lead someone to Christ is to #1- pray for them, and #2 lead by example not by words. What I mean is live the life of a Christian, allow the Holy Spirit to transform you from the inside out. You'll experience a real (amazing) transformation. It'll amaze you! Your family will also notice, as will your friends, that something is different about you, and begin to ask you about it. That is the time to open up with them, share the gospel, share the Bible, and give your testimony to them. You're right that it's not about pushing the Bible down others throats. It's about the love of Christ, emanating from within you, drawing people to Him. You're simply the tool for Him to do that! Our "job" is easy. Jesus has the hard part.

Next, dive into the Word! Read a sentence a day. Read paragraph or read a chapter. Read whatever you can muster. The Word of God is your personal guide. The Lord will speak to you through His word.

If you want, ask the Lord Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit (the baptism of fire). Abiding in the Holy Spirit is the only way to live!

If at all possible join a Church, or pray that God will send you a mentor to be there for you and pray for you. Having someone pray for you can make your life so much easier sometimes!

If you're gay friends are going to abandon you for being a Christian, then they are not real friends! If you don't want to lose friends pray and ask God that He give you new friends.

Do you want to know the secret of living in the presence of Christ? Ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in dreams, through music, through art (go FIT!), through others, through the Word (Bible) everything you could possibly imagine. The Bible says to "taste and see that the Lord is good." Once you have tasted the goodness of the Lord your only desire will become to know Him more. The Bible says to "delight yourself in the Lord." Once you have come to know the heart of the Lord, and experienced His abundant love, there is no going back! You'll be head over heels :D

May the Lord bless you! Stick around and there will be plenty of Christians willing to help you. Caroline H is one of sweetest members here.

I tend to be a bit of a jokester, myself (if I'm funny or not seems to be relative though )

 

[Chris]

Hi there, Its nice you can join us, we are glad to have you with us. You are just at the start of your spiritual journey with God how exciting for you! I was exactly like you I was the family's black sheep that became a Christian in my teens. I'm hearing you about the solo road.

Here is the thing about your new faith, You can can fill your mind with all knowledge of holy scriptures and church doctrines and still be alone. You can attend a church full of Christians and still feel alone. When you meet God in the form of the holy spirit in your life suddenly you are sure god exists and are never alone again. The holy spirit can be found in quiet places in prayer.

Ps as a new Christian you may carry guilt of the things you did before you believed. Christianity is a bit like stepping into a shower, you clean up when your in it. No one expects you to have taken a bath before you get in the shower, just enjoy it

Bless you,
Chris

 

[PouringRain]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Fembot]

Hey Breanne,

Congratulations!! I pray that you remain strong in your faith. Don't worry about your gay friends. Those who are meant to be in your life will stay regardless of what you do. Just try not to judge them or change them. There are ways to share God's word without making people feel you are being condescending. As for FIT. It's a great school-one of the best for fashion. I have a degree in Accessory design and I live in NYC too! I've recently decided on a permanent home church where there are many young people. So if you'd like to visit one day just pm me.
Doesn't it feel great to be on fire for Christ?

 

[Mike]

You are remarkable person to have found your faith at a time when many your age are too distracted by life out on their own for the first time. A lot of good advice so far.

Welcome to CFnet, by the way. I would suggest you start a thread either in "Christian Talk & Advice" or "College Age" forum. You'll garner a lot more attention there, and members will engage you much more. Some people just use this forum to introduce themselves.

No doubt you will face some hard decisions in choosing to follow Christ. It's a paradox, because it's both easy and hard. Ask the Lord to give you a heart that's for Him alone. Following Christ means giving up a lot. When Jesus called His disciples, it meant leaving their old lives behind. That's not to say you leave people behind, but you leave your old way of living behind.

A great song goes, "Shine. Let 'em wonder what you got. Let 'em wish that they were not on the outside looking bored. Shine. Let it shine before all men. Let 'em see good works and then, let 'em glorify the Lord." (Newsboys)

Don't be like me when I was a newbie. Here's me... I went over my friends house and told him to be like me. "Don't do what you're doing. I'm not doing that anymore. What you're doing is bad. What I'm doing is good." I should have prayed that God would have taped my mouth shut for my first year!

You really need to find a group or a person to support you and affirm what you are doing, because most of your friends and family will not be supportive, and this is a critical time in your journey.

I'm really glad you joined!

 

[handy]

Hi Breanne! Your testimony reminded me of my own situation. I became a Christian at 13 and was the youngest in my family. Nobody ever listened to me about anything, much less about my faith.

Some things I'd like to share with you from my own experiences.

One, it's extremely difficult to witness to family members, but you can pray for them, and never underestimate the power of prayer!!!! When I prayed for my parents and my siblings, and asked other Christians to pray for them too, things began to happen!! I never witnessed to them all that much, but after a while, they would ask me questions, go figure!

Two, I want to share a verse that I claimed as a promise from God way back when...Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved, you and all your household. (Acts 16:31)

I prayed to God about my "household" and who was in my household...not just my mom and dad and older sisters and brothers and maternal grandparents, but, as time when by, brothers-in-law, sister-in-law, nieces and nephews! I can testify today that this promise has come true for me.

Third, what others has said about finding fellowship is so important...you truly do need to be around other Christians as you begin your walk. It's sort of like falling in love...all wonderful at first, but then it can get rough!

Great to have you here and I hope that you can begin to find that fellowship at this place!