Topical Index

Christian Behavior and Attitudes

To those who love Him, God matters very much both now AND after death.
People often accuse Christians of being arrogant, and sometimes they are right.
Christian charity, when correctly practiced, does not cause anyone's financial ruin ...
... concern about the safety and happiness of the people.
... I hope you will be able to understand what I feel.
I still have a lot of respect for your intellectual knowledge about Christianity, but your description of your experience shows me that on a practical level, at some point back in your past you acquired a mistaken idea about what God promises to do for those who believe and obey Him.
If you think it takes more courage to try to live without an answer to the question of the meaning of life than it takes to believe in Christ, then you must not have thought much about the history of the Christian church.
Christians do need to realize that we are trying to teach people something that could be very costly, both to those who listen to us and believe what we say, and to ourselves.
Jesus suffered a cruel death in order to prevent me from having to spend eternity in hell.
One of the wonderful things about Christianity is that it shows us that God can use us in His service just as we are, faults, fears, sins, and all.
Did you really believe in Jesus, or did you just say you did because the people around you were saying that?
... from a Christian perspective, the idea of original sin actually doesn't damage our self-esteem.
... all Christians are actually evildoers, and all non-Christians are evildoers also.
... when churches fail to practice love for others, they can't expect to have much success in anything they try to do for God.
I also feel strongly that when others regard my ideas and feelings as unimportant, they are saying, in effect, that I am unimportant.
You can honor your parents' intrinsic worth as human beings even if you can't honor their behavior.
Remember that the God you are talking about knelt in front of his disciples and washed their feet (John 13: 3 - 17).
To those whose main goal in life is to be comfortable in this present physical world, the Christian attitude that says that suffering for the sake of Christ is a privilege does seem strange ...
A public newsgroup is not a good place for confessing sins ...
I hadn't realized you were hurting so much.
Does it sound as if we are saying that our spiritual struggles are behind us? That's not true, of course ...
... showing love by our actions is a far more powerful testimony of our faith than philosophical or historical arguments ever are.
Here's why I am sure that God is not being callous or cruel when He allows us to suffer on earth: He was willing to submit to suffering Himself.
... to a Christian, everything in this earthly world is extremely temporary.
... you should do things such as reading the Bible, getting into contact with Christians, and worshipping with them.
Yes, it's true that even those who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour aren't perfect yet.
... God created us because He wanted to love us. There's no such thing as a worthless human being.
Jesus taught that we are not to judge others.
Christianity does teach that human beings are born selfish and corrupt, but it also affirms that we are never worthless.
... everything Christians do should be done as though we are doing it for the Lord ...
Anyone who claims to love God but does not love others on earth is telling a lie.
... love for others is the evidence that we are truly following Christ.
Jesus never promised that following him would make us successful in business.
Of course it's possible to believe in God and still commit sins. All Christians do that.
God intervenes in human life today every time anyone sincerely prays.
There's no such thing as a human being who doesn't have a soul, but there certainly are many people whose souls are empty and numb.
When Christians pray, we do more than just thinking about God.
... the meaning of having a relationship with God.
Another thing that God does for me in my everyday life is to help me do what is right.
The book of Galatians ...
... about how God affects the lives of those who follow Him.
Everything in this world is here today and gone tomorrow, and even when things are going well we can't count on anything.
Since God is omnipotent, how could a person have a relationship with Him without serving Him?
... If you only follow part of what Christianity says, you might get a little bit of temporary reward for it.
A person who is so full of hate that he or she would like to kill someone can't possibly be happy.
I think you are right that many people appear to be doing things for others while their true motives for their actions are selfish.
... thinking evil things and doing them.
... we have to demonstrate the sincerity of our faith ...
It is possible to love a person without loving that person's actions.
The Scripture tells us that we should confess our faults to others on earth so that they can pray for us.
Yes, you are quite right that parents and teachers should teach children to have good morals and values, but we also need to remember that ...
No one would dispute the assertion that justice, faithfulness, and mercy are good, so there is nothing to argue about with regard to those things until, of course, we start to try to apply them in our lives.
... If we obey God only because we are afraid of the consequences of not doing so ...
In her book, "The Hiding Place", Corrie ten Boom tells about some prisoners who held clandestine worship services in their barracks in a Nazi concentration camp.
... as long as the church uses the wealth it possesses only in ways that glorify God and help people, then there is nothing wrong with owning it.
Jesus teaches love for our enemies. That is the Christian alternative to intolerance.
Jesus told us that we should consider ourselves blessed when we are persecuted for his sake, because our reward in heaven will be so great.
The results, or fruits, of being transformed by Christ are good personal qualities that we can not produce on our own.
... a few general comments about some of the reasons why people sometimes leave Christianity.
You're probably thinking that human beings are capable of being good enough to establish peace and justice on earth by our own effort. Christians don't buy that idea.
When we say that all humans are sinners we are measuring people by God's standards. We are not measuring people relative to each other.
We need to make a distinction between judging others, which is very wrong, and admitting that all of us are sinners, which is very necessary.
If you think that Christians never lighten up, check out the humor section on my web site ...
You are quite right in your unwillingness to judge others.
Do you think it would be better for Christians to pray for atheists without telling them that we are doing so?
Being "better off" isn't the same thing as being "better people."
God does not really need our praise at all.
Even the best of Christians sometimes experience periods of spiritual dryness.
... we have to be constantly watchful to keep ourselves free from evil.
I don't know where you got the idea that Christians consider atheists to be bad people.
Loving our enemies is such a difficult thing to do that we can't do it by ourselves. We have to let the Holy Spirit do it through us.
Glorifying God is more satisfying than any human achievement ...
... being humble means making sure that God gets all of the glory for what we do ...
I certainly don't expect people to be satisfied with being hungry.
... Jesus did not even claim to be trying to teach people how to be successful or comfortable in this present world on earth.
If you haven't seen the love of God expressed in the midst of suffering, then it's easy to see why you don't understand.
... we should notice that they sacrificed their own lives in order to carry out these actions.
... we all need to watch out for the trap of expecting God to conform to what we want Him to be.
... military actions ... should be entirely for the purposes of justice and the prevention of further atrocities, not for revenge.
Christians honor martyrs highly, but we consider suicide to be a serious sin.
I have had much struggle in my own life to find answers to my own questions.
... Afghanistan ...
I think the issue here is which do you love more, your plans or God?
... The only person who has ever truly lived a sinless life on earth is Jesus Christ.
... Jesus Christ himself is the only one who ever fully lived up to the standard of sinlessness.
... what should we think about people who claim to have accepted Christ and who then later commit sins.
I don't participate in chat rooms, because I think that the net is not a good place to look for fellowship ...
In the secular world, of course non-Christians can have positions of authority.
I don't understand what the illegal and shocking behavior of a few men has to do with the authority of men in general.
When Jesus associated with immoral people, it was so that he could reach them and save them.
The Scriptural idea of not associating with a person who is committing a blatant sin and refusing to repent ...
Yes, something is lacking in my life.
It sounds as if you've realized how temporary everything on earth is.
... the joy that the Lord gives is far greater than any of the pleasures of this present world.
If you really want to have a good time right now, follow Jesus.
... there won't be any jockeying for position in heaven.
There is danger in trying to solve our problems entirely by an effort of our own will.
Low self-esteem is not the same thing as feeling guilty.
... It is dangerous to allow our human feelings to become our standard of morality, because ...
Christians certainly should not hate Muslims. ...
... control our own experience, but why should we want to?
Jesus spoke against the attitude of people who followed him only because he had given them physical food to eat.
... We try to do right because ...
... an example that illustrates that Christianity teaches people to do things which are wise in an ideal world but which do not always lead to success and comfort in this world.
... we should not consider any particular Christian to be a phony just because that person isn't perfect.
... credulousness and skepticism ...
Christians believe that no human being is capable of solving everything without help from God.
If Christians are easy prey for scam artists, I think the reason may be...
How do you tell what a person truly believes?
... the sensible thing to do if God exists is the opposite of the sensible thing to do if there is no God ...
... Christianity has to be practiced in our daily lives. It is not enough just to talk about it.
You may be trying to alter your feelings by your own effort ...
I don't think Jesus was trying to say that it is always a sin to be angry.
... people who will refuse to hate you.
Almost all of those who have faith in God as children go through a period of doubting and questioning their faith when they get older.
.. we are sometimes unable to forgive by our own effort, but ...
... no urge to use sex in an immoral manner until after they fell.
... we can't make it on our own.
You should not need to be any particular type of personality ...
... we are loved by God, ... good looks don't matter.
Christians do not have a monopoly on good character. ...
Discussions about salvation, heaven and hell ... often center around rules.
... we will be grieved about it when we sin ...
People who feel that Christianity is mostly a set of rules ...
Use your talent for animation to create something good...
...Christians who have a condescending attitude ...