What I Believe and the Reasons Why

I call myself a Christian. This doesn’t mean that I believe I’m perfect or that I have all of the answers. What it means is that I have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into my heart and soul.

For as long as I remember, I have believed in God. And I have always believed that Jesus was the son of God. I was raised in the Methodist Church, and although my parents did not go to church, my grandmother took me with her each week.

I was also best friends with the minister’s daughter for several years, and this had a huge impact on my life. I was able to see on a daily basis the contrast between being raised in a Christian home and a non-Christian home. In my friend’s home, there was a lot of laughter, togetherness, helping each other out. I never heard any cursing or saw anyone drunk. I never heard people shouting and calling each other names. My home was just the opposite, and there was nothing I wanted more than to have the kind of family my friend had.

Still, I was young and didn’t truly understand what being a “Christian” really was. I knew that one must be “born again”, and I didn’t understand exactly what that meant either.

But one day, when I was a teenager, I met God on a hillside behind my house. I was surviving sexual abuse on a daily basis at the hands of my father, and I felt so helpless. On that hillside, I cried out to God for help and for strength. And I asked Jesus to come into my heart. Immediately, I was flooded with a sense of total peace and love. And I knew that no matter what happened to me, God was going to turn it around for good in some way.

Now, thirty five years later, I can look back and see how God has worked in my life. Sometimes I break out in tears at the amazing people and the opportunities that have just come into my life at the right moment, totally unexpected.  I have also had so many opportunities to share my story of abuse and help other children who are being abused.

My Christian walk has been a journey, and I am now firm in the things I do believe, and still searching in some areas.

What I Believe

I believe that the only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ. I know this is a topic of debate, but this is what my Bible tells me. Nowhere does it say we can believe whatever we want, worship who we want and still get to Heaven. It clearly states that only through Jesus can we get into Heaven. Some people question whether Jesus is the son of God. I know that He’s the son of God, because I’ve met Him. He lives in me and I commune with Him daily. If He was a mere man, this would not be possible.

I believe that Christianity is the only way to Heaven, and this is why I believe this. There are basically two religions in the world. One is Christianity, which says there is absolutely nothing we can do as human beings to earn our way into Heaven. Jesus paid the debt for our sins when He died on the cross. We owe Him absolutely nothing. All we must do is accept His gift to us.

The other religion….(which includes all of the other world’s religions)…says that we must earn our way into Heaven. We must say a certain number of prayers, fast, live a certain way, do so many good works, and so on in order to gain entrance into Heaven. Some religions say that if we don’t get it right then we will come back as another life form….so we can try again to work our way in.

And the thing is…this way is impossible for one main reason. We can never do anything good enough to earn our way into Heaven. Ever. It doesn’t matter who we help out, how many prayers we say, or how much time we spend praying. None of it is worthy of the One who created us.

Knowing this, God gave us a way through His son, Jesus Christ. Why would God send His only son to die for our sins if there was another way into Heaven?  It doesn't even make sense.

 And the beautiful thing about this is that He is available to every single person on this earth. All we must do is accept Him into our hearts. It is so much easier, so much better than spinning our wheels trying to get into Heaven through our puny works. At least it is for me.

As far as the church I attend, I now attend a non-denominational church which is very loving. My church is a church that reaches out to people who are hurting, and this is what I love about it. The focus is not on gaining more membership. I find that many churches have lost their focus, and have become more of a place to socialize than a place to reach others for Christ.

As I stated earlier, I still have many questions and things I am unsure of. But the things I stated above are the things I am sure of. Thanks for allowing me this venue to share.