It doesn't matter what kind of household we grew up in, our choices were our own. We could choose to follow Christ or we could choose to follow our heart and into sin to relieve the emptiness within.
Many of us grew up in "Christian" homes where everyone attended church gatherings in a building miles away from our home. And yet, there was no love there, just rules and judgment if we failed to follow those rules perfectly. Going to a "church" was about appearances for most people and it is still that way. The "decent" families attended gatherings as a requirement to social norms rather than a dedication to Christ. Everything was based on performance to make the family look good, very little was based on loving one another. As long as the people in the family performed in appearances it mattered little the condition of the heart.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”
The attitude and actions in the home were far different from those shown to the world. The world looked at this family as a good one, not knowing how mean and rude it was in the home when the world couldn't see.
It wasn't until I became born again that I realized how ugly that home environment was, how unloving and how self-absorbed everyone was, without kindness and without a desire to understand and love one another.
When we do not see modeled the love of Christ we turn to what comes naturally, immorality and the world to relieve our pain of emptiness.
God knows what we need and what we are inclined toward when we don't have Him. Our search for love bends toward immorality and self-exaltation when we have not been changed by Christ.
I professed Christ at church camp when I was about 12 years old but remained lonely and frustrated by what was all around me. I knew in my head that I should "accept" Christ as my Savior but struggled to be the better person I should be, it was a fleshly effort to avoid hell but without the power to overcome sin.
It wasn't until I became born again in my early twenties that I confessed my sinfulness and trusted Christ to change me into a new creation. I didn't understand all His principles but wanted Him to change everything that was wrong. I stopped attempting to change myself and prayed every time I was tempted to walk disobediently. Over time sin began to fall away and boldness for Him grew.
The Lord didn't use a person or a church to change me. He gave me some truth through the teachings but since it was not modeled anywhere I looked I had to turn entirely to Him to show me what was wrong and that I should follow Him alone.
The more I grew in Christ the uglier the modern Christianity looked to me. I began to realize that the Christianity of this world was not the Christianity of the Bible. It was a sudo-Christian form of religion based more on performance than on Christ.
I supposedly accepted Christ as a young girl but it was head knowledge without substance. One of the greatest changes in me when I trusted Christ after I was married was that I no longer fit into the "Christian" groups or families who went to church every week.
I thought becoming born-again would cause my family to love me more but they seemed to despise me more than before, as though they liked being superior to me when I was sinful and hated that I had found Christ with a changed heart and life.
We see this often in the world, those who are pretenders are intimidated by authentic believers who have been changed by Christ. Even avoiding and covertly menacing us hoping to cause a bad reaction in us so they can accuse us of something or deny our change.
We see this happened to Christ when the Pharisees accused Him of performing His miracles by the power of the devil to discredit Him among the people.
God began to open my eyes to my own sin and the false Christianity that was common all around us. I prayed that the Lord would remove every sinful intent of my heart, every false way I was taught and keep me focused on Him alone.
We cannot resist the pull of false Christianity without Christ. The more we engage with "pew people" who love their religion but not Christ the more we become confused and weak. To be strong we must surround ourselves with those who are authentically changed by Christ and love to walk with Him.
Those who love Christ will not be in competition with one another about anything. They will want to see their own flaws to be healed and will love engaging in conversation about Christ and His principles. There will be no desire to be phony or superior because they walk in His love daily.
1 Corinthians 13:4–8a "4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.
5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered,
6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."8 Love never fails;"
Those who walk in love are filled with the love of Christ and walk in the fruit of the Spirit. Not deeds but character qualities that lead to proper loving actions.
Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law"
And, it is possible to recognize the difference between pretenders and authentic believers because of the fruit or lack of it.
Matthew 7:17-20
"17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits."
Anyone who does not walk a lifestyle of this fruit but walks a lifestyle of competitiveness and rudeness is not born-again.
1 John 3:9
"9 No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God."
We are living in the end times in which there is little faith upon the earth and much false faith based on religious practices that are not Biblical.
2 Timothy 3:5
"5 holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these."
Many authentic believers are leaving the organized churches to remain faithful to Christ. They will be seen as foolish and even judged as unsaved, we need to ignore all that and follow Christ.
