Guide to building a relationship with Christ
I am not sure where to start this from or how to start it, but Lord speak to me and through me, so Your new found or reclaimed daughter can know exactly how You feel about her and she can learn where to start from.
Welcome! Believe me you are not alone in this journey of finding Christ as a new convert. Regardless of what religion you practiced, or how far your ran away before He reclaimed you, I have been there. I became a Christian only 17 years ago, and it has been a journey of Christ discovery and self discovery. I have had to learn and unlearn and relearn the right way with help from the Holy Spirit.
My convert journey I must say, was exciting yet scary, sure and real yet so surreal. I won some friends and lost so many. Some remained and we got deeper even though we now had different religions, others I never gained back or when we did reconnect, it really was not the same again.
Family! Phew a whole other story. It did not exist for years, in the sense of it, especially since they believed it was my SO that led me to Christ. So far from it, Christ found me Himself! I was not even searching for Him, it just happened. I don’t have one those supernatural type experience stories, yet my convert story is unique to me and I have had no regrets or ever looked back since. Our love just waxed and is waxing STRONGER- Jesus and I 😁
So believe me I know the fear and the excitement. The pains of loved ones abandoning you, yet the highs of your newly found relationship with Jesus.
However, one thing I did not really have in the beginning was someone to show me where to start and how to build a relationship with Christ. Church was a good start but was not enough, because of the type of church, where my SO attended and we still attend, there was really no foundational guidance as to how to build my relationship with Jesus.
So I had to learn myself with God’s guidance I must say. I had to learn to search for Him through scriptures and best Christian resources I could find ( teachers , books, devotional etc) and all did and do help.
So let me share with you, tips on where to start.
My key tip is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you through it. The Spirit of discernment is very important even as a baby Christian. So prayerfully ask for His help. You don’t need too many words, don’t let that scare you off, a simple sentence like “Holy Spirit help me in the journey” is more than enough. Trust me 😁
New converts get all my mixed up and confused sometimes because they believe they have to be articulate or be spiritually deep before the can approach God, that’s a topic for another day.
For now, my tips :
- Find a bible believing church that truly preaches and sticks to only the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Buy a bible that you can easily read. Simple English, I used to read the KJVs in the beginning and I struggled. Then I switched to NKJVS and it was not bad until recently switched to NLT. Now, I study Bible using different translation to deepen my understanding, my favorites along side the NLT are, passion translation, Amplified and the Message.
- Seek out teachers that are grounded in the Word of God. I believe after a while, you may shed off some of them, if they don’t align with your conviction in Christ, or satisfy your appetite any longer. It’s ok to search for a good number of them as you can handle in the beginning. Teachers are sent to different spheres and they all teach differently. Note I did not say pastors. I can recommend a few, that I follow. I guide my space jealously when it comes to those who I let feed me the word, but I do have a few. The number 1 teacher is always the Holy Spirit, who will always guide you to all truths. Seek a relationship with him first, that way He can help you discern the right teachers.
- Like minded friends or groups: seek a friend or two or more who already know Christ. You may have had that one friend who has always been all about Christ when you were not ready, or you may have a friend who just also newly found Christ. Seek such friends out or find new friends in your community with a burning desire for Christ and who are progressing in their relationship in Him. That love for Christ and to want to know more about Him binds you all together. You can make that circle as small or as large as you want it, or you can have different pockets or groups of friends who feed you or strengthen you in different ways, the ultimate goal is to help, grow and learn from each other in your new walk with Christ. Praying for discernment is also crucial here, so ask the Holy Spirit to help you pick the right friend or group of friends. Understand that not all of them will remain as you grow in Christ. You will shed a few as you deepen your walk and you will gain new ones too, the important thing is that you have a support system through your journey.
I hope these helps someone know where and how to start your relationship with Christ. If you have other tips please share below.
Be Lifted
Lolade
