The most important decision you could ever make is to confess and repent your sin, and accept Jesus as your Savior.
If you’ve done this, your life will be changed forever! NOW WHAT?
GET A BIBLE | PRAY | PLUG INTO A CHURCH
Being a Christian doesn’t make your life trouble-free, but the amazing part of a relationship with Jesus is that the Holy Spirit’s peace will be with you through life and its troubles if you stay in His will. You will also notice that it is easier for you to tell the difference between sin and God’s will. This is the Holy Spirit acting as your conscience and telling you what is right and wrong.
Even though the Holy Spirit gives you a conscience, we still struggle with sin and doing what is right. Even Paul in the Bible wrote about his struggle with sin. “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15).
The key to combating this struggle is to know and follow God’s will.
To know what God’s will is, it is important to get a Bible (available in any bookstore), and read it regularly. Pray, and ask God to give you understanding as you read. You can view God’s Word as your roadmap and primary source of answers for your life. The Bible is not necessarily meant to be read in chronological order. We suggest that you start in the book of John and then move on to Romans. Read it slowly with much prayer. The Bible is not always easy to understand, which is why the next step is so important.
Next step: plug into a local church. This will provide teaching on God’s Word. Don’t get discouraged if you try several churches before you find your home church. Pray for wisdom, and know that many of us here at Cross America have gone through times when we didn’t know for sure which church God wanted us to attend. There is no perfect church because we are all imperfect people. Remember a church is like a hospital. It is filled with patients that are sick and need help because we are all sinners. There will be disappointments, but if we expect them, it makes life easier to go through when we face the let-downs.
Those are your first three steps. Pray, read your Bible, and plug into a local church.
However, you will find that your faith is challenged every day by critics, media, and questions. If you read Ephesians 6:10-18, you can see the challenges we all face and the importance of being prepared for these. It is important to have answers to your questions and the questions other people will ask. The following resources hold the answers to many questions you will have.
