Becoming A Christian

People often describe the Christian life as a journey. Or sometimes the idea of a pilgrimage is used to speak about the way that we meet with God, recognize Him for who He is and respond to His love by asking Him to journey with us throughout our life.

It is important to realize however that there is not one way by which people find faith. We are all unique individuals and God meets us and speaks to us in and through many different ways. Some people grow up in a Christian home and are not able to speak about a time when they did not know God. For them God has always been part of their lives and although that relationship and friendship has deepened and matured over the years, He has been a constant presence and guide throughout their life. Others look back on their life and through their school or family, through friends or Sunday School or Church they have found for themselves the love of God through the person of Jesus Christ. Others of course are able to speak about a particular moment or time when they “opened their heart” to God and made a decision to be a follower, or disciple, of Christ.

The important thing of course is not whether we come to faith over a period of years, or whether there was a particular person or event that brought us to faith. What matters is that we all get to the point when we are able to say with confidence that we are Christians, that we know God and that we follow Christ.

If one is not sure whether he or she is a Christian, what do they need to do? Four simple words are central to becoming a Christian.  “Sorry, Thank you and Please”. Saying sorry to God means being genuinely able to repent, or turn away, from your sins, that is those things that we have done that are wrong and that have separated us from God's love. Thanking God, means recognizing that He has created and loves you and that He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you on the cross. Saying please to God, means asking Him to give  you the gift of His Holy Spirit and to help you become like Christ in your words and actions.

If you are not sure if you have ever become a Christian, you might like to find somewhere quiet and pray saying, sorry to God for the things we all do which are wrong and which spoil our lives. Remember to thank Him for His love and for sending Christ to live and die for you. Ask him to please fill you with His love and his Holy Spirit.

Being a Christian is not something however that is an easy option. While it does bring a new sense of purpose and joy and peace into our lives, it does mean we need to be open to God and seek to live with Him and for Him each day. Just as a piece of coal, if it falls out of the fire, goes cold and loses its glow, so on our own it is easy to lose our joy and purpose in being a Christian. That is why it is important to be part of a Church where one can worship with others, where ones faith can grow and where one can be encouraged by the faith and lives of others. It is important that however simple our prayers are that we begin to pray to God and not only ask Him for his support and guidance but express our love for Him each day.

The purpose of the Christian life is not to live unto ourselves, but through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ to carry the light of God's love for the world to others through our whole being.