How do I really know if I'm a Christian or not?
If you are a "church kid" and you are anything like me, you've asked yourself this question before. You may be unsure how to answer the question or even where to start in answering it. At times, you may have experienced an unsettled feeling and been uneasy about your eternal destiny deep inside but been afraid to confront those feelings or admit doubts, lest you find out that you really aren't a Christian.
You don't need to live this way. You really can know whether you are a Christian or not. And the good news is that even if you find out that you really aren't a Christian - you can admit it, confess it to your parents and friends and then turn to Jesus Christ in faith. From there, you can begin to truly trust in Jesus as your only hope for salvation, forgiveness and being right with God. Once you realize that "living right" on the outside doesn't impress God and doesn't make you a Christian, you can begin to place your faith in the only place that makes a difference- in the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf and in our place.
No matter what, if you are unsure whether you are truly a Christian and you don't know how to answer the question, I would encourage you to do some hard work considering the question by yourself and then talk it over with your parents. To get you started, I'll be posting the "Self-Test" questions from the book, Growing Up Christian for the next 3 days. Please read through them carefully and answer them honestly - after all, eternity is at stake....
When you are by yourself...
Do you pray? What do you pray about?
Do you read the Bible? Do you enjoy reading your Bible? Do you experience God teaching you when you read your Bible?
Do you worship God? Why do you worship?
Do you think about God on your own? What aspects of God do you think about?
Do you confess your sin to God on your own? What sins do you confess to God - sins of motive and desire or primarily outward actions?
