growing in faith this new year

i know that pursuing a relationship with Jesus as a teenager can be extremely intimidating. i have been a christian my whole life, but four years ago is when my faith became something much more personal and my own. over the past four years i have learned and grown so much, but i still don't have it all figured out. it will take me my whole life time (and maybe longer than that) to truly grasp everything that Christianity and the Bible entails. a lot of people have asked me, "how do you continue to grow in your faith?" so this blog is all about how i grow in my faith and how i can hopefully help you grow in yours this new year. keep in mind, i am no pastor. i am just a teenage girl trying to figure it all out, just like you.

a t t e n d i n g

i strongly believe that actually showing up to church, sunday school, youth group, etc. is an important factor in growing in your faith. while there are wonderful sermons posted online, nothing beats being physically present in a crowd of believers. it is so moving, touching, magnificent. if you have never attended a church and are scared of being 'the newbie', i promise you are welcome.

r e a d i n g

reading christian books and the Bible is such a humbling thing. give God time out of your busy life to sit down and read with him. before i read, i pray that He will show me what He needs me to read and that i will comprehend the words i am reading (because sometimes the Bible is confusing). also, it can be super hard reading the bible front to back. i tend to skip around, for example i read ruth, titus, 1 john, matthew, isaiah, etc, which is completely out of order. just ask God to show you what you need to see. i promise, He will blow your mind with what He shows you. every single time.

l i s t e n i n g

1. listen when God is speaking. it's so easy to be too full of ourselves and forget that our problems are so tiny compared to the goodness God has in store for us. after you pray, really listen. tell God that you are listening. He wants to have a personal relationship with you, but relationships are two sided. one person cannot be doing all the work and putting in all the effort: both people have to be. so really listen to Him. He can speak to you through other people, through your thoughts, through music, through events. I know that you cannot physically see Him, but He is all around us in every day life.

2. listening can also mean what you are literally listening to. worship / christian music being played in your every day life can really change how you act, speak, think. uplifting music about God and his love is much more beneficial than music with curse words and with negative messages.

s u r r o u n d i n g

surround yourself with positive and happy people who are good influences. if a friendship/relationship isn't benefiting your well-being and relationship with Christ, then it isn't worth having. ask God to bring the right people into your life if you feel that you don't have friends like that. talk to your pastor, youth pastor, parent, sibling. just surround yourself with godly people as much as possible.

s p e a k i n g

speak kind words. speak words that would water flowers. they way you speak about yourself and others can directly affect your relationship with Christ. look at every person you see and say to yourself, "they too are a child of God." then look at yourself and say "i too am a child of God." everything that God creates is beautiful, which means that you, my friend, are indeed beautiful. this world needs more kind words; if you don't hear any, speak them yourself.