Don't know if I want to be Catholic or not?

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Elena321

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Baptised but haven’t received communion and an not a Regular Churchgoer.
I don’t know if I want to be Catholic Or if I even want to consider spiritual things altogether.

Two main things are my problem.
1.I don’t love Jesus,or know if his story is true,and even more importantly I don’t feel myself as a sinner or have no feelings of sorry or contrition etc.I only pray be a use of the hope of being helped from an illness that’s not fixable.
Obviously things like murder,intentionally hurt,etc I would never do,basically what is accepted by society as wrong,but all the things seen by the Catholic Church as sins I can’t feel sorry for or even necessarily agree intellectually.

2.I can’t follow a God who puts sinners in a literal burning physical fire.
Everything in me and society says it is wrong to burn people or your children and I can’t bring myself to say/think it’s wrong for humans to do this but ok for God because he’s perfect.
I remember as a child being traumatised by sermons on hell or when disobedient my father pointing (down towards the ground) saying I should be careful or God would put me in burning hell etc.He was just saying what was taught to him but it’s made me avoid Church.

Other things too i can’t understand such as receiving indulgences to remove the punishment of sin even though the “guilt” of it has been removed etc.I thought that was what Jesus death was meant to be about?

Honestly,I feel more troubled then joy regarding Christianity.
Thanks
 
Your first point is probably the hardest to overcome. My advice would be to try looking for Jesus in other people. Maybe you could (if you don’t already) volunteer to help the homeless, or children, or the elderly in some way. There’s a pretty good chance that such an experience will bring you close to God and help you start sensing that “relationship” that people are always talking about.

Your second issue is a little bit easier. We don’t know that Hell is a “literally burning physical fire”, even though it is described that way. What we do know if that it is a place of eternal emptiness, apart from God, and someplace that we definately don’t wish to place ourselves. Even though people speak of God putting people in Hell, I think it’s more accurate to say that people put themselves there. God offers us salvation out of love, but we must accept it. He won’t force it on us.

Finally, indulgences can be difficult to understand. I had a really hard time with this, even after becoming Catholic. I think the confusion for me comes when people try to quantify them. “ex. If you do such and such, three people will be set free from purgatory.” People describe indulgences as if they are “heaven points” that you can earn and keep for yourself or distribute as you wish. I think indulgences are better understood if you think about it as a general prinicple. If people do good things, it helps heal some of the hurt in the world that is caused by sin. That’s actually pretty self-evident. Acts of charity restore grace to the Church. It’s really that simple. The Church gives us specific acts that are very good and help to restore some of the grace that is lost because of sin. This helps those of us on earth as well as those of use who are in purgatory, as we are all part of the body of Christ.
 
I think you should pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit and first get grounded in the things that you do find to be true. For example, list what you do believe in, rather than the things you don’t believe. One step at a time. Similarly, don’t worry right now about indulgences and things like that. Pray for the grace to believe.

I had a similar problem many years ago-- I doubted if God existed. When I worked that out with my AA sponsor, then I doubted if Jesus was truly the Son of God. I asked my priest about this, as this was when I was praying for four years to know the truth between Protestantism or Catholicism. He told me to do this and it worked like a charm: Read the gospel of Mark.

Know that God’s ways are not our ways. We can’t fathom a Father sending His children to hell for all eternity. It helps me to remember that first of all, God’s mercy is unfathomable; we will get every chance to repent even at the moment of death according to Divine Mercy and Sister Faustina. Secondly, God doesn’t “send” people to hell, they choose to go there. These souls would not be comfortable (for lack of a better word) in heaven and they don’t accept God’s mercy and forgiveness. Then we have God’s justice. Because God is perfectly JUST, He CAN’T destroy a soul as if it never existed, so that soul gets what it chooses-- the rejection of God and all that is good.

God bless you, keep seeking and you will find.

**I have to make my tag line “Please & thank you - Correct me if I’ve said anything contrary to Church teaching.”
 
I think it’s obvious that God calls each of us, all of us, and He keeps calling, over and over. A few people deny they hear Him, but I think that’s either foolishness or a lie. I think you wouldn’t be writing unless you heard Him.
Ask yourself, how could I possibly know Jesus, unless I read Scripture and go to Church? Are you waiting to be knocked off your horse, like St Paul? This is possible, obviously, but it’s better if you pray, thanking Him for what you have and asking Him for guidance.
I’ll pray you never learn what is in hell.
 
Elena321 said:
Baptised but haven’t received communion and an not a Regular Churchgoer.
I don’t know if I want to be Catholic Or if I even want to consider spiritual things altogether.

Two main things are my problem.
1.I don’t love Jesus,or know if his story is true,and even more importantly I don’t feel myself as a sinner or have no feelings of sorry or contrition etc.I only pray be a use of the hope of being helped from an illness that’s not fixable.
Obviously things like murder,intentionally hurt,etc I would never do,basically what is accepted by society as wrong,but all the things seen by the Catholic Church as sins I can’t feel sorry for or even necessarily agree intellectually.

2.I can’t follow a God who puts sinners in a literal burning physical fire.
Everything in me and society says it is wrong to burn people or your children and I can’t bring myself to say/think it’s wrong for humans to do this but ok for God because he’s perfect.
I remember as a child being traumatised by sermons on hell or when disobedient my father pointing (down towards the ground) saying I should be careful or God would put me in burning hell etc.He was just saying what was taught to him but it’s made me avoid Church.

Other things too i can’t understand such as receiving indulgences to remove the punishment of sin even though the “guilt” of it has been removed etc.I thought that was what Jesus death was meant to be about?

Honestly,I feel more troubled then joy regarding Christianity.
Thanks
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You hardly know anything about God or religion yet. Why not start reading the Catechism linked below and see if that answers some of your questions. Unless you know who God really is and what that means for you, how can you judge objectively? Childhood memories are very deceptive. And since then you seem to have had little objective instruction.

Linus2nd
 
Elena321 said:
Baptised but haven’t received communion and an not a Regular Churchgoer.
I don’t know if I want to be Catholic Or if I even want to consider spiritual things altogether.

Two main things are my problem.
1.I don’t love Jesus,or know if his story is true,and even more importantly I don’t feel myself as a sinner or have no feelings of sorry or contrition etc.I only pray be a use of the hope of being helped from an illness that’s not fixable.
Obviously things like murder,intentionally hurt,etc I would never do,basically what is accepted by society as wrong,but all the things seen by the Catholic Church as sins I can’t feel sorry for or even necessarily agree intellectually.

2.I can’t follow a God who puts sinners in a literal burning physical fire.
Everything in me and society says it is wrong to burn people or your children and I can’t bring myself to say/think it’s wrong for humans to do this but ok for God because he’s perfect.
I remember as a child being traumatised by sermons on hell or when disobedient my father pointing (down towards the ground) saying I should be careful or God would put me in burning hell etc.He was just saying what was taught to him but it’s made me avoid Church.

Other things too i can’t understand such as receiving indulgences to remove the punishment of sin even though the “guilt” of it has been removed etc.I thought that was what Jesus death was meant to be about?

Honestly,I feel more troubled then joy regarding Christianity.
Thanks
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Tune in to God and he will open up the truth for you. Everyone at some time or other forgets to do this which doesn’t bear any fruit. It is like purchasing a nice fan and not plugging it in into the wall socket.

It sounds to me from what you are saying that he is right at your front door and all you have to do is let him in. Just say as often as you can, “Jesus teach me.”

May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.
 
Join the RCIA. I also find helpful the Catechism books for 1st through 6th grade, maybe a little juvenile but clear explanations. Also, if you have questions, you can speak to a priest. Praying for your spiritual journey.
 
Praying for you from today’s Liturgy of the Hours:

INTERCESSIONS

My brothers, let us praise Christ, asking to serve him and to be holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life. Let us acclaim him:
Lord, you alone are the holy one.

You desired to experience everything we experience but sin,
– have mercy on us, Lord Jesus.
Lord, you alone are the holy one.

You called us to love perfectly,
– make us holy, Lord Jesus.
Lord, you alone are the holy one.

You commissioned us to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world,
– let your light shine on us, Lord Jesus.
Lord, you alone are the holy one.

You desired to serve, not to be served,
– help us, Lord Jesus, to give humble service to you and to our neighbors.
Lord, you alone are the holy one.

You are in the form of God sharing in the splendor of the Father,
– Lord Jesus, let us see the glory of your face.
Lord, you alone are the holy one.

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us,
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Concluding Prayer

O God,
who brought the Abbot Saint Anthony to serve you
by a wondrous way of life in the desert,
grant, through his intercession,
that, denying ourselves,
we may always love you above all things.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

DISMISSAL

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.
– Amen.
 
Been there done that.

When I was in my younger days, I too thought that the story of Jesus was nice, but not likely true.

However, at a point in my life I had to find out for sure before rejecting Jesus outright.

So, the only thing to do was go to Jesus Himself. Let Him reveal Himself and prove that He is real.

Praise God that’s exactly what He did. It was merely my job to turn to Him and be willing to accept whatever He gave me. That was over 35 years ago and I’ve never looked back.

So, if you want faith, go to the source of faith, Jesus Christ.

Be willing to surrender yourself to him. This means, all of your ideas and your entire being. In other words, die to self. In exchange, He’ll give you knew life, that of which people call “being born again.” It’s real, but you have to let him into your life.

Jim
 
There is a certain theology regarding hell that can be easily misunderstood. God is not some tyrant who wants to burn people who disobey Him. Hell is actually the mercy of God for those who are not able to stand in the presence of God after they die. If one dies in the state of mortal sin, it would be torture for that person to be in presence of God in Heaven. Hell is the mercy of God for those who die in the state of mortal sin. The Catechism does not say that hell is a literal fire, but there is a tradition that it is. St. Theresa of Avila even said that the fire of hell is actually a distraction for those in hell from the actual pain. Which I guess would be separation from God. If you truly want the truth, pray to God and ask Him to guide you. All human beings worship someone or something, whether it is God, money, pleasure, or even themselves. We all have a center of our lives.
 
My advise to you is this, if you are truly serious about pursuing Catholicism and are simply having doubts, distractions, etc. Go to this link on YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=lYYvujzop3A.

Listen to it, and while you are listening to it, meditate on the Stations of the Cross, which are displayed in the video. Think about them and, although you may not believe yet, think about the love that Jesus Christ has for you and for you me to undergo such treatment on our behalf. Even if you do not yet believe in His Truth, open yourself up to it even if just for those few moments, and contemplate His Love.

May God bless you in abundance for all eternity and guide you by His Light! 🙂
 
Elena321 said:
Baptised but haven’t received communion and an not a Regular Churchgoer.
I don’t know if I want to be Catholic Or if I even want to consider spiritual things altogether.
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I assume from your first sentence that you were baptized Catholic but that your family has not been practicing…I’m a bit curious about how old you are…but you need not share if you do on to want to.
As to your second comment - I think that if you did not want to consider spiritual things, you would not be here posting these comments.
So let’s begin from the notion that you DO want to consider spiritual things.
Two main things are my problem.
1.I don’t love Jesus,or know if his story is true,and even more importantly I don’t feel myself as a sinner or have no feelings of sorry or contrition etc.I only pray be a use of the hope of being helped from an illness that’s not fixable.
Obviously things like murder,intentionally hurt,etc I would never do,basically what is accepted by society as wrong,but all the things seen by the Catholic Church as sins I can’t feel sorry for or even necessarily agree intellectually.
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The beauty here is that Jesus loves you…and I assume that you do not hate Jesus, you simply don’t know what to make of Him. I would say that you kind of need to get to know him better.

As to the matter of sin - and whether we are sinners…this is really kind of a complicated business.
It took me a while to work through this too.
Sin is not simply about following rules nor is it necessarily about what society considers to be right or wrong. The Greek and Hebrew word’s most often translated as “sin” have a more broad meaning. In addition to the connotation of breaking a law, they mean taking a wrong path, or to err - going the wrong way. So sin is about being on the right path…
The most fundamental thing about living a good sound life and avoiding sin is Agape. Agape is a form of Love - a deep abiding “Brotherly Love” that seeks the highest good of another. Agape is the word used in the Gospels when Jesus reduces all of the law and the prophets down to just two commands. 1) Love God above all else, and Love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:36-40).
So my suggestion is that, before tackling any other questions, read through the NT and see how central this Love, this Agape, is to the teaching of Jesus.
2.I can’t follow a God who puts sinners in a literal burning physical fire.
Everything in me and society says it is wrong to burn people or your children and I can’t bring myself to say/think it’s wrong for humans to do this but ok for God because he’s perfect.
I remember as a child being traumatized by sermons on hell or when disobedient my father pointing (down towards the ground) saying I should be careful or God would put me in burning hell etc.He was just saying what was taught to him but it’s made me avoid Church.
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Yes this is troubling. Unfortunately all too often we are left with these childhood images and explanations when what we really need is a more mature understanding of these matters.
The images used - the physical fire, “God sending people to hell” and so forth are all fine teaching tools for spiritually immature people. But as we grow in understanding we begin to recognize certain things.
First - God does not “send” people to hell. God wishes for all to be saved. However God will not force someone to love Him or to wish to be with Him. So the choice to go to heaven or not is made by the individual. Not in an intellectual way as some might wish, but rather in the manner in which one lives their life. If one embraces and lives a life centered on Agape Love, they grow close to God and can be assured of heaven. If one embraces and lives a self centered life - without care for others - then one will not grow closer to God and is choosing to NOT enter heaven.
What the ultimate end is for such people - steeped in greed, selfishness and other vices can only be described as eternal torment…whether that involves physical fire or not…🤷
Other things too i can’t understand such as receiving indulgences to remove the punishment of sin even though the “guilt” of it has been removed etc.I thought that was what Jesus death was meant to be about?
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You got me here - - I’m not big on indulgences myself but I’m sure others will give good explanations.
Honestly,I feel more troubled then joy regarding Christianity.
Thanks
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Being a disciple of Christ ain’t for wimps - that is for sure…😃

I hope my long winded replies above are helpful

Peace
James
 
Elena321 said:
Baptised but haven’t received communion and an not a Regular Churchgoer.
I don’t know if I want to be Catholic Or if I even want to consider spiritual things altogether.

Two main things are my problem.
1.I don’t love Jesus,or know if his story is true,and even more importantly I don’t feel myself as a sinner or have no feelings of sorry or contrition etc.I only pray because of the hope of being helped from an illness that’s not fixable.
Obviously things like murder,intentionally hurt,etc I would never do,basically what is accepted by society as wrong,but all the things seen by the Catholic Church as sins I can’t feel sorry for or even necessarily agree intellectually.

2.I can’t follow a God who puts sinners in a literal burning physical fire.
Everything in me and society says it is wrong to burn people or your children and I can’t bring myself to say/think it’s wrong for humans to do this but ok for God because he’s perfect.
I remember as a child being traumatised by sermons on hell or when disobedient my father pointing (down towards the ground) saying I should be careful or God would put me in burning hell etc.He was just saying what was taught to him but it’s made me avoid Church.

Other things too i can’t understand such as receiving indulgences to remove the punishment of sin even though the “guilt” of it has been removed etc.I thought that was what Jesus death was meant to be about?

Honestly,I feel more troubled then joy regarding Christianity.
Thanks
Click to expand...
In my post is a Typo.“be a use” should actually say “because”.
 
Allegra said:
Your first point is probably the hardest to overcome. My advice would be to try looking for Jesus in other people. Maybe you could (if you don’t already) volunteer to help the homeless, or children, or the elderly in some way. There’s a pretty good chance that such an experience will bring you close to God and help you start sensing that “relationship” that people are always talking about.

Your second issue is a little bit easier. We don’t know that Hell is a “literally burning physical fire”, even though it is described that way. What we do know if that it is a place of eternal emptiness, apart from God, and someplace that we definately don’t wish to place ourselves. Even though people speak of God putting people in Hell, I think it’s more accurate to say that people put themselves there. God offers us salvation out of love, but we must accept it. He won’t force it on us.

Finally, indulgences can be difficult to understand. I had a really hard time with this, even after becoming Catholic. I think the confusion for me comes when people try to quantify them. “ex. If you do such and such, three people will be set free from purgatory.” People describe indulgences as if they are “heaven points” that you can earn and keep for yourself or distribute as you wish. I think indulgences are better understood if you think about it as a general prinicple. If people do good things, it helps heal some of the hurt in the world that is caused by sin. That’s actually pretty self-evident. Acts of charity restore grace to the Church. It’s really that simple. The Church gives us specific acts that are very good and help to restore some of the grace that is lost because of sin. This helps those of us on earth as well as those of use who are in purgatory, as we are all part of the body of Christ.
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Thanks.Hell as seperation from God (is not good by any means so I’m not trying to dismiss a notion of hell in case anyone misunderstands my post etc) but the Fatima Mary apparition though showed the children a literal hell where people were burning from flames from within and demons looked like grotesque animals etc.
I know as Catholic a person doesn’t have to believe in approved apparitions but to me there’s either only truth or deception.
I don’t really understand a “middle ground” where I can contemplate that maybe Hell isn’t literal burning while knowing all the Popes past and present believe in Fatima and what she showed-ie physical burning Hell,if that makes sense?
Arn’t I then saying I think I’m smarter then them who are led by the Holy Spirit?
 
Hodegetria said:
I think you should pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit and first get grounded in the things that you do find to be true. For example, list what you do believe in, rather than the things you don’t believe. One step at a time. Similarly, don’t worry right now about indulgences and things like that. Pray for the grace to believe.

I had a similar problem many years ago-- I doubted if God existed. When I worked that out with my AA sponsor, then I doubted if Jesus was truly the Son of God. I asked my priest about this, as this was when I was praying for four years to know the truth between Protestantism or Catholicism. He told me to do this and it worked like a charm: Read the gospel of Mark.

Know that God’s ways are not our ways. We can’t fathom a Father sending His children to hell for all eternity. It helps me to remember that first of all, God’s mercy is unfathomable; we will get every chance to repent even at the moment of death according to Divine Mercy and Sister Faustina. Secondly, God doesn’t “send” people to hell, they choose to go there. These souls would not be comfortable (for lack of a better word) in heaven and they don’t accept God’s mercy and forgiveness. Then we have God’s justice. Because God is perfectly JUST, He CAN’T destroy a soul as if it never existed, so that soul gets what it chooses-- the rejection of God and all that is good.

God bless you, keep seeking and you will find.

**I have to make my tag line “Please & thank you - Correct me if I’ve said anything contrary to Church teaching.”
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Thanks.
I understand the soul choosing seperation from God but I can’t be at peace with God creating the “seperation place” to be literal burning fire even with knowledge of Gods mercy and justice.
On earth,we are horrified if people burn people,even the baddest people I couldn’t do that to because what then would seperate me from them.
 
Elena321 said:
Thanks.Hell as seperation from God (is not good by any means so I’m not trying to dismiss a notion of hell in case anyone misunderstands my post etc) but the Fatima Mary apparition though showed the children a literal hell where people were burning from flames from within and demons looked like grotesque animals etc.
I know as Catholic a person doesn’t have to believe in approved apparitions but to me there’s either only truth or deception.
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Consider who the Virgin was showing this image to - It was children. With children one can and often needs to explain things in ways that make sense to theme but might not reflect the whole truth of something.
One example might be a 4 year old child asking, “What is thunder?” Instead of trying to explain the intricacies of how thunder is produced a parent might simply say that it is just two clouds bumping together. The child is satisfied with this explanation and then later, when they are older, they will learn the details involved. The parent here has neither deceived OR told the truth…Though there is truth in what they said.

Compared to God, we are all little children. The ways of eternity are hard for us to understand and grasp. So God, in His mercy and Love, uses images and analogies and examples that we can grasp and understand.
How often do we hear Jesus say in the Gospel, “Heaven is like…”, or “the kingdom of God is like…”? Jesus is using examples and analogies to try to explain to us what we cannot fully grasp in our current state.
Similarly, the image of hell as a burning lake, and demons who look like beasts and monsters is something that we can understand and can invoke in us a proper response to it. While the reality of it might be different…the Truth of it is still there…It is terrible, it is insufferable, it is frightening, it is something to be avoided.
So - has God deceived by providing this image? or has God explained a truth by using an analogy that we can understand?
I don’t really understand a “middle ground” where I can contemplate that maybe Hell isn’t literal burning while knowing all the Popes past and present believe in Fatima and what she showed-ie physical burning Hell,if that makes sense?
Arn’t I then saying I think I’m smarter then them who are led by the Holy Spirit?
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No I don’t think that you are saying that you are smarter than others. You are struggling with these things just as we all do at one point or another.
In truth though, God is calling you to a closer relationship with Him. That is why you are asking questions and seeking greater insight, The trick is to not become sidetracked by details. That is what the evil one will try to do. He will say to you - Why do you want to believe in a God that sends people to hell, when in truth satan is actually tempting you to freely join him in hell.

The truth is less about what hell is “Like” than it is about what hell IS. It is something to be avoided.

But there is also something more important - something far better to focus on. HEAVEN.
Jesus teaches us to focus on heaven, not on hell. He teaches us to focus on Love, on the goal, the narrow gate, the perfection of Love in all it’s glory. The more we focus on Agape Love, the less importance hell - whatever it’s reality - has to us. Love of God and neighbor becomes that which drives us. We BECOME more loving and thus become more perfected in Christ.

No one who seeks to become perfect at a given thing focuses on what can go wrong. Instead, they focus on what they need to do right in order to achieve their goal. An archer focuses on the bulls eye, not on what is NOT the bulls eye. A pitcher focuses on the strike zone, not what is NOT the strike zone.
Similarly, let us focus on the goal of heaven, not on what is NOT heaven.

Sorry to prattle on so…I hope something above is of help.

Peace
James
 
Thanks.Its definitely helpful.
Regarding literal “hell fire” I used to try to just not focus on that part but at the same time now I think I should focus on it because if I followed Jesus/Catholic faith at some point atheists might ask me regarding it and to not have a clear answers just falls flat to them.
I’m not sure if I agree with the notion of God just showing people what they understand at their level.
If that’s the case,then everything could be reasoned with that and how could we know what was deception?
For example,I read some story by a little boy Colton Burpo(Christian not catholic) who claimed to go to heaven.
He said Jesus rode a multicoloured horse etc and told him things that don’t really match with Catholic beliefs.
I don’t believe his account to be from God.However if I reasoned that Jesus simply related to him at his level (by riding colored horse cause kids like that sort of stuff) then I would have took his account to be true in my mind.Same for all other stories of NDE’s,apparitions etc…
How would I know then what was from the fallen angels if that makes sense?
 
Elena321 said:
Thanks.Its definitely helpful.
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I am glad it was helpful.
Regarding literal “hell fire” I used to try to just not focus on that part but at the same time now I think I should focus on it because if I followed Jesus/Catholic faith at some point atheists might ask me regarding it and to not have a clear answers just falls flat to them.
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Fair enough.
However, just remember that for some no answer will suffice. All we can do is to reply the best we can and let the holy spirit do the rest.
I’m not sure if I agree with the notion of God just showing people what they understand at their level.
If that’s the case,then everything could be reasoned with that and how could we know what was deception?
For example,I read some story by a little boy Colton Burpo(Christian not catholic) who claimed to go to heaven.
He said Jesus rode a multicoloured horse etc and told him things that don’t really match with Catholic beliefs.
I don’t believe his account to be from God.However if I reasoned that Jesus simply related to him at his level (by riding colored horse cause kids like that sort of stuff) then I would have took his account to be true in my mind.Same for all other stories of NDE’s,apparitions etc…
How would I know then what was from the fallen angels if that makes sense?
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This is the reason that the Church does not require us to believe in private visions etc. So - if one chooses not to accept Fatima or other visitations, they are not violating the faith even though popes have accepted them.
Note here that I say “choose not to accept”…this is distinct from rejection. By this I mean that one simply chooses to ignore - to neither accept or deny.

As for discerning the truth of such things…honestly, unless it happens to me, I have no need or desire to try to discern. I leave that to those more truly versed in such matters.
That said, If I were to have such a vision…I would seek counsel on it and I would try to measure what was revealed against the Law of Love which is the essence pf God Himself.

But as for the visions of others…I generally do not seek to understand or interpret them. Trying to Love God and Love my neighbor as myself keeps me plenty busy…😉

Peace
James
 
Also I dont understand what people mean when they say Jesus is working on their hearts.?
I thought Jesus teaching was just what we tried to follow in life and the Holy Spirit was what people felt so I’m confused about the Jesus heart bit.
 
Elena321 said:
Also I dont understand what people mean when they say Jesus is working on their hearts.?
I thought Jesus teaching was just what we tried to follow in life and the Holy Spirit was what people felt so I’m confused about the Jesus heart bit.
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Elena - I read parts of your other thread and I am struck by the fact that God just won’t leave you alone. (That’s a very good thing!) 🙂

Instead of focusing on certain questions you find troubling (like the existence of hell for example) or even doubting if you should join the Church, why don’t you try just one simple exercise. I think the first step to overcoming them all is simply to place yourself in the palm of His hand. Be like a little child and visualize Jesus inviting you to sit with Him. He already knows the condition of your mind and heart. He alone understands the obstacles that are in your way to conversion. I suspect Satan is tempting you by trying to make this all too difficult. Just be with Jesus…a prayer from the heart can be a ***single ***word. Say His name and present your condition to Him. Plead your cause. A thousand times a day lift your mind to Him, not even knowing what He will do. “Jesus, guide me and help me” is sufficient. Or Jesus, “reveal Yourself to Me.” Give Him permission to speak to you. All else will come after that.
 
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