I didn’t grow up in church, so when I became a Christ-follower in my twenties, there was a lot I didn’t know about the Christian faith. Fast-forward two and a half decades, and I’m still learning. I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but if I could sit down and have a cup of coffee with my twenty-five-year-old self, here are three things I would tell her about being a Christian.
- You’re going to experience times of spiritual dryness. When you become a Christian, it’s common to experience a noticeable sense of peace and joy. There’s a sharp difference between life prior to knowing Jesus and after Him. But the newness wears off—it has to if you are going to mature in the faith. A time might come when you can no longer sense God’s presence as much as you once did—and it can feel as if God has gone missing. The Scriptures go silent, and you wonder if your prayers are even being heard—let alone answered. Sometimes spiritual dryness is a result of unconfessed sin. Other times it just happens. Early on, I thought I was doing something wrong, but what I didn’t understand was that it’s during difficult times, we learn to walk by faith and not sight. During times of spiritual dryness, the best thing to do is to keep engaging in spiritual disciplines like prayer, Bible study, and worship. Spiritual dryness does come to an end—so keep doing the next faithful thing.
- You’ll get your feelings hurt by other Christians and that is no excuse to leave the church. In the secular world, there’s an expectation that Christians should live up to a higher standard. And it’s true, Christians are called to love God and people (Mark 12:30-31) and as the apostle Paul says, “shine like stars in the universe” (Phil 2:15). But the Bible also makes it clear we’re all a mess (Rom. 3:23). On any given Sunday, every person sitting in a church pew is deeply flawed—if we weren’t we wouldn’t need a Savior. So, it stands to reason that we are going to make mistakes and hurt each other’s feelings. In biblical community, you will be disappointed by others, and (wait for it!) you will disappoint others. Count on it because it’s inevitable. And by the way, all people—everywhere—are disappointing. You won’t find perfect people at your gym, book club, work place, or the local bar. The only One who will never disappoint you is Jesus—and it’s His will for His people to be active members of biblical community so don’t even think about dropping out of the local church (Heb. 10:25).
- Commit to studying the Scriptures and do everything possible to develop your prayer life. Hard times will come and you’ll need to hold onto the promises of God with everything you’ve got so get very familiar with the Scriptures. Don’t just read them—immerse yourself in the Word. There’s a difference between knowing about God and really knowing Him. Knowing Him comes from spending time in His Word and prayer—there is no other say. It’s impossible to have a growing and vibrant relationship with God apart from studying the Scriptures. Developing a daily rhythm of reading the Bible is one of the primary ways we come to know God, His ways, and learn what it means to follow Jesus. Likewise, it’s imperative to tend to our prayer lives. Charles Spurgeon said, “Prayer is doubts destroyer, ruin’s remedy, the antidote to all anxieties.” Because prayer is such a vital element of the Christian life, I believe the enemy will do everything possible to derail our prayer lives. If the enemy can’t get us trapped in habitual sin—his next tactic is distraction that prevents us from praying. Be wise to his schemes. Bible reading and being an active member of a local church are critical aspects of the Christian life, but if we do those things and ignore our prayer lives, we’ll still be missing out on a key element of the Christian faith. Prayer is difficult for everyone and a vibrant prayer life won’t happen without intentionality. Do whatever it takes to tend to the spiritual disciplines because they put you in a posture to receive God’s grace—and to really know Him. And one final thing: You’ll never waste a single minute you spend pursuing Jesus—He is everything.
- What do you wish someone had told you when you became a believer?
- What would you tell your younger self?
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