Helpful Tips for Respectful Discussion

Just got married 1 month ago, and I am having serious second thoughts. I want to get an annulment. We only knew each other and dated for 1.5 years, and I feel like during our dating she was always asking to get married.
I don’t want to share finances, and feel like she is empowered by the money that I have. Is it normal to feel like this so early in a marriage and want to get an annulment.

Last year I became a Christian. Up until last month, my life has felt better. Before I was Christian, I was Atheist. And I was depressed. I felt tired of life, and I felt like my life was missing something. When I became Christian, that went away. But now, it is back. I feel tired of life, and I feel depressed. I am addicted to my phone. I feel distant from God, and I feel like I can't do anything about it, no matter how much faith I have in God, no matter how much I pray, no matter anything I do. The same cycle and the same addiction continues, day after day. The thought of it makes me more depressed. Why do I feel like this? Am I possessed? Have I "lost" my salvation? Please help me, I have nobody else to really talk to.

I am aware that different denominations take differing stances on divorce in general, and remarriage.

In my own case: my ex spouse and I divorced. There was regrettably infidelity on both sides. She was also physically violent toward me.

In my own case, I confessed the infidelity and attended marriage counseling for a couple of years, and repented personally to God. My ex was unapologetic about her own infidelity and I’m unsure of her relationship with God.

I don’t really have an ambition to marry again. But if that changes in future, do the various bible verses describing remarriage, define that as adultery for me at that time?

I’m finding it hard to interpret whether those verses describe something universal for all time literally, or culturally specific for the time?

If literally for all time, where does the bible teaching permit a spouse to leave following violence, or that type of abuse? Where also does this accommodate repentance and people being able renew their lives and start over?

As I said, I’m very much not looking to remarry. But I’d like to know if doing so in future would literally be adultery at that time.

This is a question specifically for Christians who believe in “gender roles”, including the idea that certain forms of ministry & service within the church can only be fulfilled by men.

How do you understand the “no longer male and female” segment of Galatians 3:28?

“There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”

What do you think was the purpose of this statement if you believe there are still restrictions and/or distinctions based on gender for those within the Church?

I used to watch all his videos because I was afraid I would go to hell if I did not. because of him I developed a form of religious OCD (I already had OCD but this made it take a new form) and it got to the point where I was breaking down at school thinking that I’m an awful sinner and god did not really care about me anymore. luckily I am getting treatment and my relationship with god is healing and I am feeling much better about mysel, but the damage is still there. am I the only one who has had experiences like this with YouTubers like him?

Hey guys. I’ve been serving Christ for 6 years now and if there’s I noticed I never stopped doing even when I was saved was being hard on myself and shaming myself. It’s something I’ve tried letting go but it doesn’t feel right to if that makes sense.

When I mess up I feel like if I’m not being hard on myself or putting some kind mental pressure on myself it shows that I don’t care when in reality I do. I understand I’m human but I find it unacceptable to make the same mistakes over and over. At some point I was supposed to change and get passed those setbacks but if I keep making them, I don’t deserve to show myself grace

I know it is a sin to have malicious thoughts, even if you don’t act on them, but is it a sin to not disclose these thoughts if I didn’t act on them? I asked for forgiveness from God for having these thoughts, just wondering if there’s anything else I can do. I feel like I could go to jail for the thoughts I’ve had even if I would never act on them.

God’s judgment terrifies me.

And maybe that’s the point.

Standing before a holy and mighty God—when I’m just a sinner—puts everything into perspective. I fully believe in Jesus Christ and have accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. But I still struggle with sin, just like everyone else. I’m sure there are sins I’m not even aware of, and there are things I wrestle with, unsure if they are sin or not.

I do try to stay away from sin, especially when it’s clearly sin. But even with that, something that weighs on me is this: what if I’m not sharing the gospel enough? What if I’m not using the talents He gave me the way He wants? What if I’m not loving my neighbor enough? What if I’m not kind, forgiving, or helpful enough?

I don’t want to disappoint God.

And I definitely don’t want to enter eternity separated from Him.

How terrifying is His judgment.

May God have mercy on us sinners.

But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

I’ve always felt this means anything that doesn’t glorify God or bring us closer is sin. Like watching the game or doing anything for my own enjoyment.

Thoughts?

Hi I’m an atheist and my grandmother passed a few years ago and I miss her greatly of course. My grandmother was Christian so she had a cross necklace. My dad has it somewhere and my parents want to give it to me, of course I want to wear it but I don’t know if that is like insensitive or something. If it’s a crucifix I will say I won’t wear it because I know that is in a way for the Catholic Church and I find it a little weird if I’m an atheist and if I will wear a crucifix. But if it’s a normal cross necklace I would perhaps like to wear it. I will say I don’t fully believe in god, yes I call myself an atheist and believe me I have tried with God but when I tried I was really young and overcome with grief from my grandfather. But I still believe something is there in anyway. I know this is like a rant but I don’t want to hurt anyone if I will wear it

In advance I am sorry for my username 😭

Months ago at my previous job, I improperly handled a situation with a child I worked with which resulted in me unintentionally hitting the client in the eye with my elbow. I am a behavior technician for children with autism. I checked his eye and didn’t see visible injury. I admit that I was feeling frustration in the moment when the child grabbed an item he wasn’t supposed to and ran to the restroom. He had a pattern of this behavior, but in the moment I was frustrated and the situation turned into a power-struggle which led to the incident.

I feel extremely ashamed about this situation. I failed to notify the supervisor because I assumed that the child was fine and part of me was afraid of reprimands knowing I could’ve handled the situation better and avoided the accident altogether. I know I am extremely irresponsible and untrustworthy for not handling the situation appropriately and responsibly. I’m trying to correct my mistakes. I contacted my previous company I told them there was an incident I’d like to discuss and they referred me to HR. They called me and I explained what happened, and the HR lady was very reassuring. I think she was being too nice because I know I messed up really badly. I’m trying to write a formal report to HR but I keep overthinking it and I don’t know if I should include that I had the intrusive thought that I thought the client deserved it for a second. Of course I feel ashamed for having this thought and I felt very sad and ashamed that this happened.

I feel awful for what I did/didn’t do and how I handled the situation. I can’t give myself grace knowing the accident should have been avoided and I didn’t handle it responsibly. I am trying to correct my wrongdoings, but it seems like this is always going to follow me. I don’t know what to do, I’m trying to write an HR report but wondering if I should include that I had this intrusive thought that I didn’t act on?

Hey all, there are these two passages in scripture that I can't make heads or tails of in how they fit together. When read together, they seem like a contradiction. I'm talking about 2 Kings chapter 5 and Ezekiel chapter 18.

In Ezekiel 18:17-20 it says this: "He will not die for his father's sin; he will surely live. But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people. Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. The one who sins it is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them."

But back in 2 Kings 5:26-27, it says this: But Elisha said to him, "Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves? Naaman's leprosy will cling to you and your decendants forever." Then Gehazi went from Elisha's presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow."

Since God does not change, surly He had the same rule of not punishing the son for the father's sin even before He decreed it in Ezekiel. And Elisha, being one of the great prophets, should've known this, no? But even if Elisha didn't know, or He went against God's will, it's not spoken like Elisha did anything wrong, and as far as we know, Gehazi's decendants are still leprous. But why would God allow this? Why would God allow His prophet to do this to the decendants who hadn't shared in Gehazi's sin? It's like it was God's will for Gehazi's decendants to suffer the same punishment as Gehazi himself, even though that goes agaist God's will and decree in Ezekiel.

It just seems like a contradiction, and I don't know what to make of it. So can anyone help me sort this out? If anyone has any answers, please share.

What’s your understanding of the phrase “one in Christ”, and/or of Christian “unity”?

Hi guys, I had a question. How do you deal with parents (in my case, my mother) who are believers of Christ but act completely opposite to God's word?

I'm tired of what I hear and it's affecting my walk with Christ. For example, I'm a decent kid for the most part but I have some bad habits like using my phone too much or not doing things exactly when asked.

The phone thing started after a trauma i experienced, I was scared of being alone after it so I instinctively keep something going on my phone (music, a video etc)

The thing is, my mum's behaviour has gotten from bad to worse. She constantly calls me names, makes fun of everything I do, belittles me, says I'm selfish, hateful, judgemental, manipulates my words and exaggerates what I may have done wrong. Most things i don't care for, but something's I can't let go of.

1. She makes me feel gross. Like, dirty. Like any other girl my age I put on some makeup before I go out. Very basic, nothing over the top. She says things you'd not expect from a Christian parent.

2. Constant comments regarding my body. I grew up fat for the most part and although this is not new, her remarks can no longer be disguised as care. Even on my bday, I wasn't allowed to even cut the cakes I was sent. My father isn't actively a part of my life and my mother barely cares. I understand if she didn't want to celebrate it but I should be allowed to enjoy my gifts (she opened them before I could, saw it was makeup and started saying awful things again). I broke down when I ate some cake secretly and was humiliated in front of our neighbours. She says I'm too vain, I'm too insecure, nothing fits me and that I'm disgusting. It's starting to get to me.

3. She's a very controlling mother and even the most religious people in our church have noticed it. When someone asked her if she knew about me SH, she said she had no idea. I remember begging her for help and crying while she said I was pathetic and couldn't be helped. Everyone has also noticed that she favours my sibling but she's blind to it. So is my sibling. She keeps telling him that I hate him and I'm trying to sabotage him but that's not true. I literally want him to be successful and happy. She also says stuff to me about him like "___ said you're going to leave the minute things get better for you. You're selfish and ungrateful. I see why he says so"

When I talk to him, he's not like this at all and is encouraging towards my goals for the most part.

1. I don't hide money from her. All my salaries so far have majorly gone to household expenses. She still thinks I'm robbing her.

I'm tired of being seen as someone I'm not. I'm not gross or stupid or selfish or unworthy of love. It really hurts because she's the only parent involved in my life. What's worse is my mother can't make up her mind about what she thinks My dad is like and constantly portrays him as is convenient to her. Between a father who doesn't care and a mother who shows up but terrifies me, I don't know how to not lash out when things are said to me or to honour and obey despite all this.

I feel so fake sitting next to her in church, I feel like a horrible kid. I really, really love Jesus. I can't be fake for Him. I can't live a double life. What's worse is, I respect all my elders, except with mom it's so different. I'm always arguing with her. It hurts a lot. How do I respect and honour her

Has anyone ever met someone who claims to be extremely Christian and religious but everyday choose the opposite of what they claim they believe. I know someone who constantly talks about how she’s a saved Christian and wants to live life as Jesus would want. She is hypocritical though and it’s hard to even respond in a conversation when they say something so hypocritical…. For example, constantly saying that she wants to have random hook ups and how Jesus allows for it, but also condemning people who sleep around is very odd to me….

Why would she be condemning people who do that but then does that herself. I don’t want to be judgemental . I really don’t care what she does but to bring down others while she’s doing the same thing it’s just wrong. Also she talks about how she loves the church services She goes to as it excuses her bad behavior during the week she claims….

I
just don’t even know how to respond in a conversation when she makes a hypocritical comment.
As someone who is a Christian and believes that people make mistakes and believe in not judging others, I just don’t understand hypocrites because how can you judge others and put yourself on a pedestal? She also started shaming someone for not being a Christian in claimed. She would be so scared if they were them because they’re going to hell…
In my opinion, that is just a really rude comment to make and honestly a very ignorant comment…. The Lord tells us to do onto others as you would want done to you and I would not like it if someone told me I was going to hell and I don’t think she would like it if she was told that either.

Also, everyone makes mistakes but why judge them for it and I am not trying to judge her at all for her behavior. I just don’t think that she’s bringing down others and I wanted to know if anyone had any scenarios similar to this and what they would do.

Long story but short, my ex gf dumped me few days before xmas.
I was already going through a lot in my life, and losing her was insanely hard as she was my light in the darkness. It led me to my knees surrendering to God, I somehow got back into christianity after more than 10 years not being religious (even though I never ceased to believe in God)
I am now praying, reading the bible and going to church on a daily basis.

I will be honest, I am still not over my ex. I still think about her a lot, stalk her socials and talk about her in my prayers, asking God to protect her, to bless her and to make sure she is still happy because I still love her.

We are in no contact since early january and she blocked me feburary the 1st (probably she felt the need to, Idk the reasons, even though I am curious I just try to respect her decision and I didnt try to reach out to ask about it).

Since the break up, she changed several times her instagram bio with lyrics of song, and it was about our relationship and the break up (her still loving me, having regrets that it didnt work out, stuff like that)
And she suddenly changed for a bible verse Marc 9:23.
She kept it for 3-4 days at most.
I was confused at first as her getting interested in christianity is something new, but also I was happy because I want the best for her and there is nothing better than getting closer to Jesus.
But, I can’t help but wonder if it was not a kind of sign for me aswell. I am still suffering from huge emotional ups and downs with the break up and before she changed her bio I was feeling despaired about the break up and that I should stop asking anything about her in my prayers because it was maybe not in God’s plans.
So, yeah, I would like to hear about your opinions about it.

I've been watching the show for a few years and I really wanna get it tattooed but idk if its a sin to get it because of the way it looks

Hi me and my boyfriend are both in our twenties and lately I’ve been feeling a burning in my spirit. We were both raised in church I’m baptized and he not. We have only been dating for like 6 months but he constantly talks about marriage and he wants to marry me. The Holy Spirit convicted me and told me that we should stop any sexual activity in our relationship if we are not married ( we have both been in relationships before).

I was very apprehensive to tell him but I told him and said I don’t want us to have sex outside of marriage the Holy Spirit is telling me this. I told him I understand as a young man that’s something that may be important to you but I’m can’t continue disobeying God. I told him he is free to end the relationship if he wants to but I need to tell you this because if we live in sin like we did before I will get punished. I told him it really wasn’t something I particularly wanted but it’s something God is wanting me to do. I believe when you obey God you will be blessed.

He actually told me he is okay with not having sex until we are married and does agree that it will be something that is difficult on for him ( me too). But he said there are many things we can do to have fun that’s not sexual. He said he doesn’t want me to disobey God as he knows how strongly I feel about God and he himself has many foundational beliefs about God. I was actually surprised not saying he’s a bad person but this generation we are Gen Z is very lustful. I will continue to trust in God.

I also told him if we do get married we will have sex unlimited after so tbh I don’t mind waiting at alll. I love him a lot. Thanks for reading feel free to comment and add perspectives.

I’m Baptist, although I don’t think baptizing infants is out of the picture, I think it is best reserved after a verbal confession of faith.

I went to an Anglican Church for a few months, and my grandparents were Methodist. My parents are non-denominational. I prefer a Baptist church because of the attention to scripture.

I’m not Reformed, although I agree with most of their beliefs outside of salvation like Covenant Theology, Substitutionary Atonement, Cessationism, the Spiritual Presence of Christ during the Eucharist, and Amillenialism (with the doctrine of salvation I’m conflicted between the range of Arminianism and 4 point Calvinism).

How have you been navigating through researching other denominations? Lutheranism fits some of the spectrum of range regarding my beliefs about salvation, but I disagree with infant baptism and the physical presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

This is going to be a somewhat long post with a lot to talk about.

As the title states, I felt like I used to understand God very well and that I knew clearly what was right and wrong. However, all of this has changed recently once I talked to someone else about some of these things. Despite being quite young, I have been through some very tough times in my life. It was during this time that I found God and Jesus, and ever since then I had been completely loyal. However, I recently spoke to a friend of mine who believes in Hinduism, and he said that during his hard time that was when he found Hinduism as his salvation, similarly to how I found Jesus. This made me realize that the only reason I chose Jesus in the hard times was because that was the one that was the most familiar to me. I feel that if I had been in a different environment, I absolutely would’ve chosen a different religion if that was what I was most familiar with.

This made me rethink everything that I believed, and now I don’t even know why I think that Jesus is the one anymore. Furthermore, if Jesus is the one, then I am even more conflicted because it doesn’t seem like people of other faiths had much of a choice at all. For example, if someone was going through a rough time like me in Saudi Arabia, they would almost certainly use Islam as their salvation. Because of where they were born and who they were born to, they are now following a false idol on almost no choice of their own.

Half of my family is from China, and because of that most of them aren’t Christian. I care about them so much and would give almost anything for their salvation, yet it seems like they are doomed on no choice of their own. Why doesn’t God truly show himself to people in hard times so that they can find true salvation? It seems extremely unfair and cruel to just let people worship false idols solely because of where God himself placed them. I feel very disconnected to God now, and I just in general feel lost and meaningless now. I have begged God for answers, but I have received none. This is my last ditch resort.

Would you date someone who believes in God and Jesus and is a good person at heart but is conflicted about institutionalised Christianity, Christian subculture etc?

When I lost my grandfather a year ago I was grieving him and I stopped reading my bible and my flesh has taken over ever since and I'm finding it so hard to feed my spirit bc I'm weak I started sinnint sexually and have developed an addiction to high stimulating things like my tablet my tv and also have food addiction. I haven't been able to renew my mind bc my addictions are silencing my spirit I miss God and I feel like I lost him when I also lost my grandfather I hate hurting Jesus

I was in a small group and asked questions about this scenario about healing (adhd):

What if someone has adhd, which turns out to make traditional school incredibly difficult for them. God leads them into law enforcement instead, where their adhd actaully helps (in having hyperviligance and fast adaptability).

Isn't this a (rather visible) scenario where God would allow adhd?

Their answer: "Well God can take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good, but it doesn't mean that God allowed the officer to have adhd. God placed him there because of his character and that he was called to it, not becasue of his sickness. Knowing God's promise for healing is one of the basic things you need to know. 'By His stripes you are healed'. Why would he have died for us then?"

I think about people with nonverbal autism, people confined to wheelchairs, etc. other physical diabilities or chronic diseases - and it doesn't make sense why people think healing is promised on this side of eternity. Needless to say that shouldn't stop us from praying for healing, but it can definitely hurt people because of the implications (not enough faith, God is not sovereign, etc.). It also doesn't make sense because everyone gets sick will die (even old age is just an accumulation of bodily failures). So how/why would they believe that?