And Here Comes the Religion Speech..

So, I've been thinking a lot about religion lately, partially because my brother started a conversation about it with me and partially because it's just been on my mind a lot.

I am a Christian. I was raised this way and once I got to be old enough, I accepted the Christian way of life. I believe in God and I worship that God. What makes a Christian? To me, Christianity is the acceptance of God as my savior and the belief that Jesus led a sinless life but died to wash my sins away. I believe that I should not only repent my sins, but actually understand the repentance. Just because God forgives our sins when we ask doesn't give us free rein to commit sin. We are imperfect and human, but we are still expected to do whatever is in our power to live a Godly lifestyle, as we were created in his image. I think that prayer, forgiveness, reading my Bible, and going to church are important parts of Christianity, but I don't think that doing any of those things necessarily makes you a Christian.

It bothers me that so many Christians are so quick to condemn others and elevate themselves. So many Christians talk down to non-believers and make Christianity be so exclusive. To me, part of being a Christian is the ability to understand that some people don't believe the same as you. While I would love it if all my friends shared my beliefs, I don't think anything good will come of telling them that they are wrong, that they are going to hell. So many Christians turn people off to religion because they are so quick to tear them down or judge them. We all struggle, some more than others, and it isn't Christian-like to make others feel as though they are inferior to you. I am a Christian, but a lot of Christians look down on me because I have 13 piercings and 2 tattoos. I curse a lot, but only because I feel that people let words mean way too much to them and it's irritating that people let words offend them so much. But those things don't define me in my religion. We say don't judge a book by it's cover, but so many people do.

I don't know, I just get annoyed. I can be a Christian and I can be fun. It is possible to do both. I am morally strong in my beliefs and I don't compromise them. As much as I may seem like a cynical, crass person sometimes, I stick to my guns. I believe in abstinence until marriage, and I'm holding myself to that. I believe in courting, not just making out, hooking up, or dating for the sake of dating. You date with intent to marry, which always sounds so crazy, but we enter relationships to see if we could spend the rest of our lives together, not just so we can have someone to mess around with then part ways with.

So..that's my thoughts for today. I'm going to try to post more often, because I think it's helpful to get this stuff out of my head. Hopefully I can stick to it.

More later,
T