A question for Christians:
Since you've been a fully cognizant Christ-follower, has someone ever "tripped you up" with their words? Has someone ever said a thing that caused you to "stumble" in your walk? What thing was that? What did that look like?
Let's say your life was progressing happily, your faith had an upward trajectory, your hope was being strengthened, you were trusting God more and more each day with your life, worrying less and giving more of yourself to those around you… then, somebody says something and it throws you off. Maybe it sends you on a downward path, sets you back a few paces.
Has that happened? I want to know about it. I want to know who it was in relation to you, what they said and how you responded. It would be helpful to me.
Please leave your story (keeping people anonymous would be reasonable) in the comments section.
A question for non-Christians:
Since you've been a fully cognizant person, has something a Christian said ever caused you to doubt their faith? Has some comment or explanation turned you off to Christianity?
Let's say at one point in your life you were open to believing in some sort of God, but somebody came along and said something and you became more closed-off than open.
Who left that bad taste in your mouth? What did they say, and how did you respond? Have those words shaped your life and what you believe? If so, in what ways?
Please leave your story in the comment section. I think your story would be really helpful to me and a lot of people.
Thanks,
Matt
Leaving this anonymous, for obvious reasons. The only times that words have been a "stumbling block" to me would be in the area of pornography, something I still struggle with from time to time.
ReplyDeleteSomeone will mention something that acts as a trigger phrase for me (whether it's the name of a porn site I used to frequent, or just a descriptive conversation about how they've been getting laid lately), and just like that, my streak of 2 weeks porn-free comes crashing to a halt.
I'd imagine that the same could occur for drug and alcohol usage as well (and any other addictions as well, I suppose), but I can't speak for those on a personal level.
you should check out every man's battle. me saying this might give the implication that you are a man, because of the title of the book and stereotypes that pornography is mostly masculine, but ignore all of those assumptions and know that i recommend that book because it helped me out a bit, and hopefully it can help you.
DeleteI think when I read what Jesus says and what he preaches I stumble in my walk with him. I understand how i can't do that walk without him, because the expectancy of what he says and desires for the functionality of the human being is so high. But consistently, the more I read the bible, I am challenged and confronted when I read the sermon on the mount, how to treat others and who and how to love, the way Jesus did, because when i look at my life I see that it is not that. That used to be depressive to me, I would doubt my faith, but recently I've discovered that my dependency on God is shown through my failure.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of struggles, I recently heard a friend say that when you ask God to strengthen you, he doesn't wave a wand that magically makes you a stronger Christian, rather he gives you opportunities to grow. Whether that's acknowledging your own failure, or something difficult someone says about you or the world. We grow through struggle. I'm not sure how relevant any of this is to what you want to see in terms of struggle Matt, but this is a quick response of the top of the head response, hopefully it correlates with what you're looking for.
I am a Christian and I have struggled with pornography and other forms of sexual immorality, and although I have been free (by the Holy spirit) from porn for about a year now I still constantly struggle with my thoughts. I recently graduated high school and some of my "so-called" friends would constantly bring up sexual subjects. When they notice that I kept silent and tried to avoid anything to do with the conversation some of them would think it is so funny to try and force feed their sickening words to me. To them it seemed like I was uncomfortable with the idea of sex but I was only trying to avoid the thoughts that caused me to stumble. They never thought about the fact that ideas they have no problem with are like poison to me.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm not saying every one who isn't Christian is like this (because some Christians are worse) but just the fact that mere words can send me crashing down so hard is terrifying. As a Christian dealing with the struggle of lust I must constantly look at what I'm taking in.