What is religion?
Religion is the human attempt to grow close to God by human effort. This means either by performing tasks to please God or by living a "good" life.
Let´s see what happened to human kind since Adam and Eve. God created them to live with Him in unity and harmony. They were giving the Spirit to be connected to God. After they committed sin, God threw them out of paradise and revoked His Spirit. The consequence was spiritual death.
What we humans mostly don´t understand is the fact, that by all our own actions we can´t grow close to God. It is not up to us to reactive the Godly Spirit inside of us. You can follow the most strict laws and regulations and try to please God in any way you want, it won´t help one thing. You cannot re-establish this connection to God by yourself.
How can we get this Spirit back to be reconnected with God?
The only way to get God´s Holy Spirit back into your life is by inviting Him into your life. Jesus came to earth exactly for this purpose. It was His mission to show us how God expects us to live our lives.
And to redeem us from our sins and save us. It is important to understand that only by redeeming our sins, we can receive the Holy Spirit, as God hates sin. Only after we have placed our sins in the hands of Jesus, we are ready to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, being spiritually reborn, or being saved.
Jesus is the key to establish your personal connection and relationship with God. The only way to God the Father is through His son, Jesus Christ.
Now you see one thing: Being a good person and following laws has nothing to do with being spiritually reborn. Different religions have different laws to follow, and humans are simply incapable to sincerely follow all these laws. In other words: No one would be good enough if judged by the law.
Where is the truth? Are all religions about the same God?
Maybe you think the same way I did before I was led to the truth. I thought that all religions must be similar, at least the monotheistic ones, with one God sitting at the top. I was also told before that it didn´t matter which way you chose to find God. Many roads lead to Rome, and so would different approaches lead to God. Today, I cannot support this ideology anymore. If you are out there, searching for the truth, please be aware of some facts:
Wrong approaches:
- Those who oppose harmony and unity but proclaim hatred and violence are on the wrong track
- Those who proclaim sin for self-fulfillment are on the wrong track. Sin only separates you from God and offers short term satisfaction.
- Those who seek self-centeredness or God within themselves are on the wrong track. God is God and humans are humans.
- Since all men have been created by God, no one else but God Himself has a right to judge men. Those who feel that they have replace God and judge men themselves are on the wrong track.
Right approach:
- Mark 12, 30: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
- Mark 12, 31: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
- Most important is to focus and worship God. Bring all your worries and questions to Him. Love Him and be close to Him. He should be your respected father who protects you, guides you and gives you wisdom. Second and no less important is to love you neighbor, basically any other being, since they are all God´s creatures. Love yourself, live in harmony and love with God and those around you, do not hate or gossip, do not hurt or judge.
- (Romans 13, 9 & 10:) The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
With that in mind, I ask you to head out and explore. Find out what sets you free, where you find lasting love. Find out through what book you can grow close to God. Seek a personal relationship with God and find out how you can experience it. |
