Somethings about God that does not make sense to me

[PelagiathePenit]

This is often my daily internal struggle. There is no excuse for sin. Honestly, sometimes you REALLY do not know any better. I’m in my mid-twenties. I look back at some of the decisions I made. I have many regrets. I know you should not glorify sin. If I never made a mistake or sinned, I would not have learned certain lessons. God wants us to be perfect. Wouldn’t that be boring? Sometimes I do not understand why people complain about rebellious teens. What type of life would you live if you always obeyed your parent’s authority? I do think obedience is very important. Part of growing up, is finding out things for yourself. Anytime something goes wrong in your life, IT IS YOUR FAULT. If it goes right, THEN THANK GOD. Why can’t we have pride in our own accomplishments? There are times I want to understand things, but it takes years. Why do you have to led the life God wants you to? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FREE-WILL. You must give over your free-will to God. Sometimes it seems easier just not believing at all. You have to marry the man God wants, do the job God wants, etc. What good is free-will if you must do exactly what God says? Never complain about your trials, conflicts, etc, you must always be grateful to have any little thing you have, whether you are suffering or not. I DID NOT ASK TO BE CREATED. If you don’t serve God, YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

Jesus hung around the likes of rebellious teens.

For some reason we have God figured as some tyrannical moralist. Jesus didn’t preach that people should be perfect except to emphasize the virtue of loving enemies.

But we seem to be under the spell of the Pharisees and lawyers to this day. They are the ones who would have us feel condemned for our imperfections, because they are following the letter of the law – which becomes the law of sin and death, the law that Jesus fulfilled by transforming it to the law of love.

Jesus didn’t chastise people for their sins, except for those involving righteous people telling unrighteous people how sinful they were. Jesus told those who were getting on His friends’ case for their alleged transgressions: ““Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.” (Matt 23:27) So that’s how Jesus saw the self-righteous.

Another time, Jesus warned them ““Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you.” (Matt 21:31b)

So it doesn’t sound to me like Jesus is the moralist who is trying to catch you doing any manner of sin so He can throw up His hands and let you go to hell.

You get to choose who you marry, too. People can say they ask for guidance from God, and they may believe the God chose their spouse and they just obeyed, but that’s all their opinion and cannot be evaluated objectively.

MS

 

[fred_conty]

Everything that Jesus wants of us is for our own welfare.

I had a few good teachers in college and they were the demanding ones.

You are only in your twenties and you will gradually see this as you grow in age.

Just look at what good parents are like. Are they the indulgent types?

If Jesus didn’t care, he wouldn’t bother.

May God bless and keep you. May God’s face shine on you. May God be kind to you and give you peace.

 

[pianistclare]

This is often my daily internal struggle. There is no excuse for sin. Honestly, sometimes you REALLY do not know any better. I’m in my mid-twenties. I look back at some of the decisions I made. I have many regrets. I know you should not glorify sin. If I never made a mistake or sinned, I would not have learned certain lessons. God wants us to be perfect. Wouldn’t that be boring? Sometimes I do not understand why people complain about rebellious teens. What type of life would you live if you always obeyed your parent’s authority? I do think obedience is very important. Part of growing up, is finding out things for yourself. Anytime something goes wrong in your life, IT IS YOUR FAULT. If it goes right, THEN THANK GOD. Why can’t we have pride in our own accomplishments? There are times I want to understand things, but it takes years. Why do you have to led the life God wants you to? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FREE-WILL. You must give over your free-will to God. Sometimes it seems easier just not believing at all. You have to marry the man God wants, do the job God wants, etc. What good is free-will if you must do exactly what God says? Never complain about your trials, conflicts, etc, you must always be grateful to have any little thing you have, whether you are suffering or not. I DID NOT ASK TO BE CREATED. If you don’t serve God, YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY.

You can certainly be proud of your accomplishments. You can’t be vain. Big difference.
We should always thank God. Even the least of us has more than someone somewhere in the world. When you become a parent, you will understand the importance of being thanked for your sacrifices.
The life God wants you to lead is not a life of drudgery. Why would you assume this?
God wants all of us to thrive, and to merit eternal life. This is not a bad thing, and is not problematic for people who are just, generous, loving, and peaceful. It’s sin that causes all of that to go awry. People can be successful and miserable if they are greedy, have hurt others climbing up the ladder, are selfish, etc.
No, you didn’t ask to be created. If you hadn’t you would not have the luxury of complaining though, would you? There’s your free will. We can appreciate all of God’s goodness, or we can turn away and blame him for our problems.
Who says you’re going to burn in hell? That’s YOUR decision. God places you where you deserve to be. Be a wonderful person, holy, humble, good, generous loving, and kind to all and stop worrying about it.
You view of God is really unfair to Him. He loves us and desires the best for us.
He’s not the one abusing people. The prince of lies does enough of that.

 

[JosieN]

You don’t have to do what God says, you have a choice. But there are good choices and bad ones. God wants us to make good choices and doing God’s will is the easiest way to make good choices.

The beautiful thing about Christianity is forgiveness. Even if we make bad choices we can be forgiven. Jesus loves sinners and wants them in heaven. Jesus came and died on the cross for us so we can be forgiven. All we need is to be sorry for our sins. He suffered so much for us.

I know it seems confusing, this is why we need to pray and trust Him.

Here is one of my favorite prayers

    O sacred heart of Jesus, I place my trust in thee,
     Whatever may befall me, Lord, though dark the hour may be;
     In all my woes, in all my joys, though nought but grief I see,
    O sacred heart of Jesus, I place my trust in thee.

    When those I loved have passed away, and I am sore distressed,
    O sacred heart of Jesus, I fly to thee for rest.
    In all my trials, great or small, my confidence shall be
    Unshaken as I cry, dear Lord, I place my trust in thee.

    This is my one sweet prayer, dear Lord, my faith, my trust, my love,
    But most of all in that last hour, when death points up above,
    O sweet savior, may thy face smile on my soul all free.
    Oh may I cry with rapturous love, I've placed my trust in thee.

 

[theoda]

This is often my daily internal struggle. There is no excuse for sin. Honestly, sometimes you REALLY do not know any better. I’m in my mid-twenties. I look back at some of the decisions I made. I have many regrets. I know you should not glorify sin. If I never made a mistake or sinned, I would not have learned certain lessons. God wants us to be perfect. Wouldn’t that be boring? Sometimes I do not understand why people complain about rebellious teens. What type of life would you live if you always obeyed your parent’s authority? I do think obedience is very important. Part of growing up, is finding out things for yourself. Anytime something goes wrong in your life, IT IS YOUR FAULT. If it goes right, THEN THANK GOD. Why can’t we have pride in our own accomplishments? There are times I want to understand things, but it takes years. Why do you have to led the life God wants you to? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FREE-WILL. You must give over your free-will to God. Sometimes it seems easier just not believing at all. You have to marry the man God wants, do the job God wants, etc. What good is free-will if you must do exactly what God says? Never complain about your trials, conflicts, etc, you must always be grateful to have any little thing you have, whether you are suffering or not. I DID NOT ASK TO BE CREATED. If you don’t serve God, YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY.

Change the last sentence to "If you don’t give thanks because of your own selfish reasons for the God who sent down his only Son to be brutally killed and tortured on the cross just so you have the chance of salvation, you aren’t in the friendship of God, so you go to Hell because of your own fault because it is impossible to enter heaven since you willingly killed your soul by mortal sin.

 

[theoda]

This is often my daily internal struggle. There is no excuse for sin. Honestly, sometimes you REALLY do not know any better. I’m in my mid-twenties. I look back at some of the decisions I made. I have many regrets. I know you should not glorify sin. If I never made a mistake or sinned, I would not have learned certain lessons. God wants us to be perfect. Wouldn’t that be boring? Sometimes I do not understand why people complain about rebellious teens. What type of life would you live if you always obeyed your parent’s authority? I do think obedience is very important. Part of growing up, is finding out things for yourself. Anytime something goes wrong in your life, IT IS YOUR FAULT. If it goes right, THEN THANK GOD. Why can’t we have pride in our own accomplishments? There are times I want to understand things, but it takes years. Why do you have to led the life God wants you to? WHATEVER HAPPENED TO FREE-WILL. You must give over your free-will to God. Sometimes it seems easier just not believing at all. You have to marry the man God wants, do the job God wants, etc. What good is free-will if you must do exactly what God says? Never complain about your trials, conflicts, etc, you must always be grateful to have any little thing you have, whether you are suffering or not. I DID NOT ASK TO BE CREATED. If you don’t serve God, YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY.

Yes, we DO learn lessons from sin when we are SORRY for them and also when we are given a just punishment. Let me ask you this. How would you know that leading a perfect life would be boring if you yourself aren’t perfect?

Obeying parents is important because we are born into this world with no knowledge(due to the effects of Original Sin), and it is our parent’s duty to inform us about morals and God and how to behave(They took vows at Matrimony that they would raise their children in the Catholic faith). They work very hard because they love you, and the least you can do for the them is to obey them when they ask you to pass the ketchup(or any other example).

Part of growing up is not finding out things by yourself, but finding out things that God revealed to your ancestors. Anything that you do that was sinful, it is your fault. Anytime that you do some deed worthy of praise, people do praise you and thank God for giving you the gifts that enabled you to do it .(Remember God created you and blessed you with special gifts that he didn’t have to give to anyone. He created you with the ability to so whatever praisable deed you did. Remember how mankind originally sinned? It shows that we aren’t too perfect, but by the grace of God, we can grow closer to sanctity)

There is something seriously wrong with your question, “Why do you have to live a life God wants you to.” Last time I checked we aren’t randomly controlled by someone to go to Mass. No. We can choose to live a life of sin. However, we should , not have to, live a life God wants us to live because it will lead to he happiness of all human beings(Remember that God knows everything, that is how he created this so complex universe, and because he knows everything, he knows this will lead to happiness). When someone encourages giving money for the poor, is he forcing you to give money? No, but he encourages it because it will make human beings happier and God happier.

There is also something wrong with your statement on how it is easier just to not believe in God. This is what Satan wants you to think! You don’t want to believe in God because of selfishness, out of laziness. Jesus allowed Himself to be nailed on a cross, and you repay him by eating a bag of potato chips on a couch instead of going to Mass to worship Him? Seriously?

You can feel bad about your sufferings. However, how bad is it to thank God for a meal? Did God have to give you that meal. What if God created you just to torture you? He didn’t, because he loved you. You could be in a worse situation, and knowing you will have many sufferings in life(which again is your fault because of your sin, not God’s. In the Garden of Eden there were no sufferings), thank God for your joy since he didn’t have to give that to you.

Also, I know you didn’t ask to be created. However, let me ask you this: Who is more wise, you or God? Since God is more wise, He knows that it is for your better good that you are created because you will experience many joys in your life(mostly afterlife). God created you for a reason you don’t understand because you don’t have to take care of 8 billion people and make sure they all have a chance at salvation.

Change the last sentence to "If you don’t give thanks because of your own selfish reasons for the God who sent down his only Son to be brutally killed and tortured on the cross just so you have the chance of salvation, you aren’t in the friendship of God, so you go to Hell because of your own fault because it is impossible to enter heaven since you willingly killed your soul by mortal sin

The main problem with yourself is that you are valuing yourself over God. You care more about yourself than your Just Creator, who loves you so much. Humans have sinned over and over again, and even deny God, but God still wants them and tries to get them to start sinning and to start leading a holy life so humans can share his happiness that he is experiencing. (I am not trying to insult you, but I am trying to get you to realize your mistakes so that one day you can share eternal happiness with God.

Sorry for any typos

 

[PelagiathePenit]

Yes, we DO learn lessons from sin when we are SORRY for them and also when we are given a just punishment. Let me ask you this. How would you know that leading a perfect life would be boring if you yourself aren’t perfect?

Obeying parents is important because we are born into this world with no knowledge(due to the effects of Original Sin), and it is our parent’s duty to inform us about morals and God and how to behave(They took vows at Matrimony that they would raise their children in the Catholic faith). They work very hard because they love you, and the least you can do for the them is to obey them when they ask you to pass the ketchup(or any other example).

Part of growing up is not finding out things by yourself, but finding out things that God revealed to your ancestors. Anything that you do that was sinful, it is your fault. Anytime that you do some deed worthy of praise, people do praise you and thank God for giving you the gifts that enabled you to do it .(Remember God created you and blessed you with special gifts that he didn’t have to give to anyone. He created you with the ability to so whatever praisable deed you did. Remember how mankind originally sinned? It shows that we aren’t too perfect, but by the grace of God, we can grow closer to sanctity)

There is something seriously wrong with your question, “Why do you have to live a life God wants you to.” Last time I checked we aren’t randomly controlled by someone to go to Mass. No. We can choose to live a life of sin. However, we should , not have to, live a life God wants us to live because it will lead to he happiness of all human beings(Remember that God knows everything, that is how he created this so complex universe, and because he knows everything, he knows this will lead to happiness). When someone encourages giving money for the poor, is he forcing you to give money? No, but he encourages it because it will make human beings happier and God happier.

There is also something wrong with your statement on how it is easier just to not believe in God. This is what Satan wants you to think! You don’t want to believe in God because of selfishness, out of laziness. Jesus allowed Himself to be nailed on a cross, and you repay him by eating a bag of potato chips on a couch instead of going to Mass to worship Him? Seriously?

You can feel bad about your sufferings. However, how bad is it to thank God for a meal? Did God have to give you that meal. What if God created you just to torture you? He didn’t, because he loved you. You could be in a worse situation, and knowing you will have many sufferings in life(which again is your fault because of your sin, not God’s. In the Garden of Eden there were no sufferings), thank God for your joy since he didn’t have to give that to you.

Also, I know you didn’t ask to be created. However, let me ask you this: Who is more wise, you or God? Since God is more wise, He knows that it is for your better good that you are created because you will experience many joys in your life(mostly afterlife). God created you for a reason you don’t understand because you don’t have to take care of 8 billion people and make sure they all have a chance at salvation.

Change the last sentence to "If you don’t give thanks because of your own selfish reasons for the God who sent down his only Son to be brutally killed and tortured on the cross just so you have the chance of salvation, you aren’t in the friendship of God, so you go to Hell because of your own fault because it is impossible to enter heaven since you willingly killed your soul by mortal sin

The main problem with yourself is that you are valuing yourself over God. You care more about yourself than your Just Creator, who loves you so much. Humans have sinned over and over again, and even deny God, but God still wants them and tries to get them to start sinning and to start leading a holy life so humans can share his happiness that he is experiencing. (I am not trying to insult you, but I am trying to get you to realize your mistakes so that one day you can share eternal happiness with God.

Sorry for any typos

Lol. Maybe I will take this God thing step by step. It feels very overwhelming sometimes. Seeing where you are and where you should be. I often wonder, what if I die tomorrow? I will never be perfect, until the day I die.

 

[bolinstephen]

What good is free-will if you must do exactly what God says? Never complain about your trials, conflicts, etc, you must always be grateful to have any little thing you have, whether you are suffering or not. I DID NOT ASK TO BE CREATED. If you don’t serve God, YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR ETERNITY.

Keep in mind that even the Angels knew of God and what would happen if they did not do what God wanted. Some of the Angels thought that an eternity without God, without goodness , and without beauty, was worth their freedom. It was their choice.

You know the two choices you have— good or evil, God or the Devil. You have the choice. If you really think sin X, Y and Z are better than God, then go for it. You will not be happy in the end— but you will have your sin.

I am not advocating you choose sin— just letting you know that you indeed have that choice, and highly intelligent beings have chosen both.

What good is free will? God love you— and he would rather you be true to yourself than change you with force. If you truly desire to change and reform, God has made it possible for you to do so, through great cost of his own. If you do not desire to reform, God will still let you be you— but you know the ultimate consequences.

Burning in hell is not the chief punishment in hell. The chief punishment in hell is you getting what you wanted. If you want sin, you will get sin. If you want God, you will get God.

 

[theoda]

Lol. Maybe I will take this God thing step by step. It feels very overwhelming sometimes. Seeing where you are and where you should be. I often wonder, what if I die tomorrow? I will never be perfect, until the day I die.

It can feel overwhelmingly, and yes, no human being will ever be perfect(except Mary).

Make sure to pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance and I will pray for you too.

 

[808Catholic]

This is often my daily internal struggle. There is no excuse for sin. Honestly, sometimes you REALLY do not know any better. I’m in my mid-twenties. I look back at some of the decisions I made. I have many regrets. I know you should not glorify sin.

Your OP is so complex so please allow me the opportunity to response to the facets I might have some thoughts on.

We all have daily struggles and, at times, the cross Jesus asks us to carry seems the heaviest in the world/history. Yet, step by step, we CAN carry that cross with God’s help. So, my first advice: PRAY. Pray often and pray sincerely. Doesn’t have to be long winded and flowery. God hears our souls and knows what is the “real” us.

Sin is a complex issue but all sin takes us farther from God so all sin is “bad.” Does that make sinners “bad”? No, we’re all sinners and God knows this. What follows our sins count for a lot (some would say more than the sin itself.) Do we try to not sin or do we excuse our decisions with a “whatever”? Do we seek Reconciliation with God and confess those sins to a priest so we can receive Absolution or do we justify it with “everyone’s doing it”?

If you think you made a lot of mistakes in your twenties, imagine how many mistakes those like me have made as we are decades older than you! We don’t have to make mistakes to learn but we would be foolish NOT to learn from our mistakes. God gave us the straight way but not the easy way. His Way is simple yet difficult. We are not asked to be perfect but faithful.

 

[NotASaint]

God makes perfect sense when you begin to cross the threshold of mortality. Mine came a few years ago. Since then I’ve been sick a lot as God has shown me my vulnerabilities. Peace and Love. I will pray for you, young man (or woman).

 

[808Catholic]

God wants us to be perfect. Wouldn’t that be boring? Sometimes I do not understand why people complain about rebellious teens. What type of life would you live if you always obeyed your parent’s authority? I do think obedience is very important.

God gave us the Way and the Truth. He created Adam and Eve and, since their fall from grace, we’ve moved further and further from perfect. How much further is acceptable to you?

You talk about perfection as boring. Let’s put “perfection” into another topic: sports. Do bowlers hope to bowl a 100? Do Olympic athletes strive to be number 117? Are gymnasts happy with a 4.0?

Let’s put this musical terms. Would you be happy if Beyonce only hit 90% of the notes in the song and stumbled through her dance routine? Can we delete 5% of the notes in Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and consider it a classic?

Most humans desire the best; put another way, want perfection. Yet what are we willing to put into our lives to be the best people we can be? Does that mean avoiding behavior that demeans ourselves and others? Will we be less “cool” so we can retain our dignity that God gave us?

People who think that being rebellious (at any age) is acceptable rarely think of the consequences when that rebelliousness is aimed towards themselves. As parents warn, “Wait to you have kids of your own!” If we could switch place with God, what would we say to people who dismiss the ultimate sacrifice our Only Son would willingly give up? What punishment would we mete out to those who thumb their noses to us in disdain while telling us “you’re an unfair God because I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it and with whom I want to do it with”?

 

[PelagiathePenit]

God gave us the Way and the Truth. He created Adam and Eve and, since their fall from grace, we’ve moved further and further from perfect. How much further is acceptable to you?

You talk about perfection as boring. Let’s put “perfection” into another topic: sports. Do bowlers hope to bowl a 100? Do Olympic athletes strive to be number 117? Are gymnasts happy with a 4.0?

Let’s put this musical terms. Would you be happy if Beyonce only hit 90% of the notes in the song and stumbled through her dance routine? Can we delete 5% of the notes in Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and consider it a classic?

Most humans desire the best; put another way, want perfection. Yet what are we willing to put into our lives to be the best people we can be? Does that mean avoiding behavior that demeans ourselves and others? Will we be less “cool” so we can retain our dignity that God gave us?

People who think that being rebellious (at any age) is acceptable rarely think of the consequences when that rebelliousness is aimed towards themselves. As parents warn, “Wait to you have kids of your own!” If we could switch place with God, what would we say to people who dismiss the ultimate sacrifice our Only Son would willingly give up? What punishment would we mete out to those who thumb their noses to us in disdain while telling us “you’re an unfair God because I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it and with whom I want to do it with”?

Honestly, I do not think it is that black and white. Part of me feels teenagers have to find their own way out. Should I just believe everything someone tells me because they do? I have a mind of my own. As important as trust is, I think people should always feel free to think of things on their own. Why should I immediately believe you? HOW DO I KNOW IF GOD IS REALLY TALKING TO ME?

 

[PelagiathePenit]

God makes perfect sense when you begin to cross the threshold of mortality. Mine came a few years ago. Since then I’ve been sick a lot as God has shown me my vulnerabilities. Peace and Love. I will pray for you, young man (or woman).

Did you almost die?

 

[PelagiathePenit]

Your OP is so complex so please allow me the opportunity to response to the facets I might have some thoughts on.

We all have daily struggles and, at times, the cross Jesus asks us to carry seems the heaviest in the world/history. Yet, step by step, we CAN carry that cross with God’s help. So, my first advice: PRAY. Pray often and pray sincerely. Doesn’t have to be long winded and flowery. God hears our souls and knows what is the “real” us.

Sin is a complex issue but all sin takes us farther from God so all sin is “bad.” Does that make sinners “bad”? No, we’re all sinners and God knows this. What follows our sins count for a lot (some would say more than the sin itself.) Do we try to not sin or do we excuse our decisions with a “whatever”? Do we seek Reconciliation with God and confess those sins to a priest so we can receive Absolution or do we justify it with “everyone’s doing it”?

If you think you made a lot of mistakes in your twenties, imagine how many mistakes those like me have made as we are decades older than you! We don’t have to make mistakes to learn but we would be foolish NOT to learn from our mistakes. God gave us the straight way but not the easy way. His Way is simple yet difficult. We are not asked to be perfect but faithful.

You SHOULD NOT make mistakes, BUT you WILL.

 

[808Catholic]

Honestly, I do not think it is that black and white. Part of me feels teenagers have to find their own way out. Should I just believe everything someone tells me because they do? I have a mind of my own. As important as trust is, I think people should always feel free to think of things on their own. Why should I immediately believe you? HOW DO I KNOW IF GOD IS REALLY TALKING TO ME?

The material world we live in and the culture we/you have grown up in teaches us, ingrains in us, the belief that not EVERYTHING is black and white. This is the seductiveness of relativeism. “I’m not REALLY that bad, just a LITTLE bad. Does that make me a bad person or a less good person?” “How much BAD can I do and still be on the GOOD side of the line?” “How much can I sin and still go to heaven?”

As a young adult, I can understand your instinct to continue to explore what our world has to offer. As someone who’s “explored” the world, I would like to offer up a bit of advise. All that glitters is not gold. Experience the world but have a moral compass; something that keeps you from falling into a pit that’s very difficult to get out of. I know too many young adults who have fallen into these pits and spend years of their lives trying to get out.

Some give up and resign themselves to the pit they’re in. I pray really hard for them because without the direct intervention of God, they may not survive and I’m not talking just physically.

Some realize what’s happening and where they are headed and reverse course. They’ve looked over the abyss and recognize it for what it was. I pray they can take their experience and warn others of those pits so others aren’t tempted to try that jump that leads to a temporary euphoric feeling but ends in tragedy.

Some enjoy the pits and revel in living that lifestyle so much they convince others to join them. After a while, that lifestyle becomes boring but they can’t escape and have another lifestyle without great effort and now their friends that they’ve convinced to join them are dragging them back to the bottom of the pit as well. I pray that God sends them strength and courage to shake off the temptations, apathy, or acceptance so they can make that climb as painful and long as it may be.

Finally, there are some that, in their despair, cry out to God for His Mercy. They turn themselves over to Him and He saves them. These people know that getting out of these pits cannot be done by their own actions or will power; only God can get them out so their faith is born out of misery, frustration, humiliation, anger, and embarrassment but leads to unconditional surrender to God, love of themselves and others, and humility to know all we do is not that important. I pray for these people and ask their help. Many times they are saints in the making and can show us all how to live our lives in God.

How do you know God is talking to YOU? Listen. Set aside a specific time of the day and just sit with your eyes closed and listen. Someone told me God is the original “hot spot”; He’s there and waiting for you but you have to “connect” so you can receive Him. Just like you can’t use a book to connect to the hot spot and check up on your FB account, you won’t find God by following your own way. You need to use the “right” device to connect to God and you would do better if you don’t try to mess up His signal by listening to Christian music or reading inspirational stories on someone’s blog. Sure those are fulfilling in other ways but God speaks to us constantly in quiet ways: the sound of the leaves rustling outside, the flowing water in a stream near your house, the sound of children laughing as they play in the park. We fill our lives with so much noise, we drown out God calling to us. He is ALWAYS faithful and is ALWAYS there for us. Trust in God.

Have a Blessed Day.

 

[808Catholic]

You SHOULD NOT make mistakes, BUT you WILL.

Why shouldn’t we make mistakes? We aren’t perfect and God didn’t create us perfect. Logically, we will make mistakes.

The question is what we do with those mistakes. Do we make them intentionally so we can “learn” from them? That would be disingenuous. Do we learn from those mistakes and teach others so they don’t make the same mistake we made? I hope so and am trying to do that now.

But mistakes are one thing and sin is another. Mistakes like putting too much sugar into a recipe may result in really bad cookies but it’s not a sin. Taking those really bad cookies and tricking our friends to eat them for our amusement is a sin; not a mistake.

Sin turns us away from God. We choose to go against God and that moves us away from Him just as Adam and Eve sinned and had to leave the Garden of Eden. Before their downfall, they walked and talked directly to God. Afterwards, no one could look on the face of God and live until Jesus was born. By His life, death, and resurrection, we have salvation. We can repent for our sins, be redeemed, and be saved. Catholics do this through the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance) and there’s no restriction on how many times you can receive this Sacrament. God knows we’ll sin but He also forgives us on the condition we try to stop sinning and promise to sin no more. And He forgives us over and over. His Mercy endures forever. Trust in God.

 

[Sk217]

Hi

I am also in my mid 20s.

Like you too, I was once a rebellious teen, very proud of myself. I regretted to many things I have done, and I would feel really bad. Well, it’s called guilt, and I think it’s a good thing to feel guilt, as long as we don’t take it too extreme. It’s better if we can learn from our mistakes (and it’s totally fine to make mistakes!), but sometimes, we won’t learn until way later (took me 10 years to start opening up to my parents again).

I used to pray to God when I want things, which is okay, but I never really thought if what I asked was good for me or no. I was so stubborn with my ‘prayers’ and when God didn’t give what I want, I would be like, ‘Ok whatever, God. If you’re not willing to give me what I want, I’m just gonna get it myself.’ Some of my friends mistaken me of being ‘positive’, while in fact I was overly stubborn and not willing to give anything up.

At one point, I was very depressed over my life that I couldn’t function. I felt so weak for weeks, even when I prayed 1/2 of my day, every single day. Then just suddenly I had a thought… Hey, maybe I’ve been doing it the wrong way… What I’ve been doing was always my way, sure I have free will, but why, even if I got to do whatever I want, I still did not get what I want? So I give up. It’s time for me to surrender and time for the Big Daddy in heaven to step in.

Now, instead of God-doesn’t-give-me-what-i-want, I would hear Him telling me to be patient because He got something better for me. It’s up to you how you want to live your life, you have that free will. But you have to understand too, that other people have their own free will. Oh, and I maybe if you pray, you can ask Him to give you the confidence to trust Him first.

God bless!

 

[Sarcelle]

Honestly, I do not think it is that black and white. Part of me feels teenagers have to find their own way out. Should I just believe everything someone tells me because they do? I have a mind of my own. As important as trust is, I think people should always feel free to think of things on their own. Why should I immediately believe you? HOW DO I KNOW IF GOD IS REALLY TALKING TO ME?

Oh you don’t always have to believe us. However there is something to be said in learning from the mistakes of others.

Your journey is your own and any good spiritual advisor will know that. I may be alone in this but it is a good thing to question what you are taught but do it with the spirit of honest inquiry with the goal of knowing the truth.

A spirit of humility will also serve you well in whatever you do.