I have grown up in a christian family and was baptised at the age of 17 ready for a life committed to God. However, I started uni at the age of 18 and from then on it's been a downward spiral. In my fresher year I would drink heavily 2-3 times a week and got in with the wrong crowd, swearing etc... and eventually didn't even go to church at all. I didn't even think about God, the one thing in my life that I used to be so sure about. I still drink but no where near as much as I used too but when I do I get into quite a state. I have started going back to my old church recently but I feel really ashamed to go there again, like everyone knows how I used to be and what I've become. Last year I met a non-christian boy and started a relationship. We went on holiday together and I'm so ashamed to say were entered into a sexually immoral relationship. We broke up a month ago because in my heart of hearts I knew it wasn't right and it wasn't how I pictured my life. I feel so staind and impure and dirty and I know all I need to do is open my heart to God and let him back in but I'm so afraid to do so for fear of messing up again. I've been thinking of joining a new church to start a fresh but I'm afraid to go on my own. Does anyone have any advice on the steps I can take to leading a good christian life again? How can I forgive myself for so blatantly turning my back on God? I know people mess up but usually when I mess up I mess up pretty bad... so i just wanna know how i can be with God again without going down the sinful path that i have don in the past. i want so much to make things right again coz' I know the only reason I entered into a relationship like the one i did with me ex-boyfriend was because I was missing God in my life and I've been trying to replace Him with other things, which is such a slap in the face for Him. Anyway I would really appreciate any advice or comments from people or people who've been through the same thing as I don't really feel I can talk to anyone about it. Thanks
Nana, when a child makes a mistake does a parent stop loving them or are they happy when the child learns and grows from their mistake? Remember the story of the prodigal son? Regarding going back to church do not be embarrassed. Church is not a place for saints. It is a place for sinners. Every parishioner is a sinner. Don't worry about being judged. No one there has the right to judge you. "Judge not lest ye be judged". It may appear from the outside that everyone else has their faith and life together, but that is not the case. Everyone has struggles. Hold your head high as you refocus on your faith and worshiping. Forgive yourself as God surely will if you ask.
Thanks flailing, your words really mean a lot to me. the story of the prodigal son always makes me smile. Gods grace truly is the greatest thing. I'm really going to try so hard to stay on the right path, I think I need to pull away from a few friendships though, and start new ones as well as re-establishing old ones which will be tough but it's what I want! Thanks
hii nana..u know wht?god has forgiven you already. its so important to realise ur mistakes. nd don care wht others say. as flailing said no1 has to judge u. and hw many who com 2 church r true at heart?try not 2 commit ur mistakes again.
well i don have the rite 2 say tis..as i also don go 2 church.i knw its bad..but.....:-)
do pray nd commit 2 god..b a gud human..tats wht matters the most..tc
well i don have the rite 2 say tis..as i also don go 2 church.i knw its bad..but.....:-)
do pray nd commit 2 god..b a gud human..tats wht matters the most..tc
Hi Nana,
1 Corinthians 13:7 ( Amplified bible)
7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
1 Corinthians 13-4-7 ( New Internitional Version)
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified bible)
12For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the [g]breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.
Romans 7:14-24
14We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh [carnal, unspiritual], having been sold into slavery under [the control of] sin.
15For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled, bewildered]. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe [[b]which my moral instinct condemns].
16Now if I do [habitually] what is contrary to my desire, [that means that] I acknowledge and agree that the Law is good (morally excellent) and that I take sides with it.
17However, it is no longer I who do the deed, but the sin [principle] which is at home in me and has possession of me.
18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]
19For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing.
20Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [[c]fixed and operating in my soul].
21So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands.
22For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature].(D)
23But I discern in my bodily members [[d]in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [[e]in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh].
24O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death?
Ephesians 2:1-10 (Amplified Bible)
1AND YOU [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins
2In which at one time you walked [habitually]. You were following the course and fashion of this world [were under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the prince of the power of the air. [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God].
3Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God's] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind.
4But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,
5Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved ([a]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation).
6And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us [b]joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
7He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.
8For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved ([c]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
10For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [d]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
Do be ashamed for he loves you and do be concrened about what if you go back to your old ways,Psalms 50:15 and
Isaiah 40"28-31
28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding.
29He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].(I)
30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
31But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.(J)
He loves you.
he looks after his word to perfom it.
1 Corinthians 13:7 ( Amplified bible)
7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
1 Corinthians 13-4-7 ( New Internitional Version)
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified bible)
12For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the [g]breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.
Romans 7:14-24
14We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am a creature of the flesh [carnal, unspiritual], having been sold into slavery under [the control of] sin.
15For I do not understand my own actions [I am baffled, bewildered]. I do not practice or accomplish what I wish, but I do the very thing that I loathe [[b]which my moral instinct condemns].
16Now if I do [habitually] what is contrary to my desire, [that means that] I acknowledge and agree that the Law is good (morally excellent) and that I take sides with it.
17However, it is no longer I who do the deed, but the sin [principle] which is at home in me and has possession of me.
18For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot perform it. [I have the intention and urge to do what is right, but no power to carry it out.]
19For I fail to practice the good deeds I desire to do, but the evil deeds that I do not desire to do are what I am [ever] doing.
20Now if I do what I do not desire to do, it is no longer I doing it [it is not myself that acts], but the sin [principle] which dwells within me [[c]fixed and operating in my soul].
21So I find it to be a law (rule of action of my being) that when I want to do what is right and good, evil is ever present with me and I am subject to its insistent demands.
22For I endorse and delight in the Law of God in my inmost self [with my new nature].(D)
23But I discern in my bodily members [[d]in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs [[e]in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh].
24O unhappy and pitiable and wretched man that I am! Who will release and deliver me from [the shackles of] this body of death?
Ephesians 2:1-10 (Amplified Bible)
1AND YOU [He made alive], when you were dead (slain) by [your] trespasses and sins
2In which at one time you walked [habitually]. You were following the course and fashion of this world [were under the sway of the tendency of this present age], following the prince of the power of the air. [You were obedient to and under the control of] the [demon] spirit that still constantly works in the sons of disobedience [the careless, the rebellious, and the unbelieving, who go against the purposes of God].
3Among these we as well as you once lived and conducted ourselves in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by our corrupt and sensual nature], obeying the impulses of the flesh and the thoughts of the mind [our cravings dictated by our senses and our dark imaginings]. We were then by nature children of [God's] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation, like the rest of mankind.
4But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,
5Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved ([a]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation).
6And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us [b]joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
7He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.
8For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved ([c]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]
10For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [d]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
Do be ashamed for he loves you and do be concrened about what if you go back to your old ways,Psalms 50:15 and
Isaiah 40"28-31
28Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not faint or grow weary; there is no searching of His understanding.
29He gives power to the faint and weary, and to him who has no might He increases strength [causing it to multiply and making it to abound].(I)
30Even youths shall faint and be weary, and [selected] young men shall feebly stumble and fall exhausted;
31But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.(J)
He loves you.
he looks after his word to perfom it.
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