Did being a Christian (specifically) ever help you for long periods?

[DoomsdayCTB]

I'm an atheist now. I went almost 40 years and nothing got better, now I might have to live in my car and I have literally no money. I had just found my dream job then got injured really badly. That's what made me realize that this so called God allowed me to experience Narc-M abuse my entire life. It never let up. It led me to this point. I always believed, but no miracle has drastically changed my life when I prayed for it. I am just a target to be abused. That's why I was born. Why can't I take agency and say "No."

I get on TikTok for people on hard times and see all these comments about choosing Christ and I'm just... Did I really choose Christ? I swear I walked his path. I felt a lot like Job's story in fact. But this world is not interesting enough for me to want to stay. And I've lost some people. I'm just truly broken-hearted. Did Christianity and the bible work for you for long periods? Should I give it another try?

 

[breadliker123]

I think faith is something good to have when you need a little bit of hope, but after a while of hopelessness it just ends up making everything feel heavier.
I grew up christian and technically still am, but ive never felt like God has much to do with any of us no matter what the church says. He just created us and watches from up there until we go meet him.

Christianity can help some people come out of deep holes, but sometimes it's best to let go for a while to avoid feeling even more hopeless if it already didn't work out.

 

[milkytoast467]

I'm an atheist now. I went almost 40 years and nothing got better, now I might have to live in my car and I have literally no money. I had just found my dream job then got injured really badly. That's what made me realize that this so called God allowed me to experience Narc-M abuse my entire life. It never let up. It led me to this point. I always believed, but no miracle has drastically changed my life when I prayed for it. I am just a target to be abused. That's why I was born. Why can't I take agency and say "No."

I get on TikTok for people on hard times and see all these comments about choosing Christ and I'm just... Did I really choose Christ? I swear I walked his path. I felt a lot like Job's story in fact. But this world is not interesting enough for me to want to stay. And I've lost some people. I'm just truly broken-hearted. Did Christianity and the bible work for you for long periods? Should I give it another try?

Life is inherently meaningless if you don't give it a purpose. Christianity only seemed to darken my life by giving a false sense of peace and safety, not to mention the "Christians" who are wolves in sheeps clothing. "Christians" will commit sins and later repent for it (or not) and repeat the same cycle. Thats why I left Christianity 2 years ago, now I'm nihilistic. I could never understand humans for being hypocritical and contradicting their own morals even when it comes to religion.

 

[byec560]

I haven't been religious since I was like 10 years old but my family is very Christian and at the very least most of the Christians I see are (at least superficially), like, very happy happy happy. It probably depends on your religious interpretations but I'd say it probably makes you feel better to believe that this divine steward is taking care of you.

 

[timf]

What is called Christianity comes in so many flavors and is presented in so many different ways that it can be tempting to reject the entire package as fraudulent. Many assert that being a Christian will get God to stop bad things from happening to you. This is not true. Here is a list of why bad things can happen.

1. We walk into something bad by ignorance.
2. Others make bad things happen to us.
3. We do things that are bad for us even though we know we shouldn't.
4. Bad luck like living on Krakatoa in 1883.
5. Environmental circumstance like being cold in winter.
6. Health problems like getting old.
7. We become influenced by those who are malicious or ignorant themselves.

Christianity describes in contrast two types of "peace". The peace of the world is essentially go along to get along. What is called the "peace" of Christ is the ability to transcend the bad things in this life. This is best demonstrated when Jesus was hated so much by the religious leaders that they demanded he be put to death.

This transcendence is made available to those who trust in Jesus. Buddhism offers this sort of transcendence through meditation and the suppression of desire. Few Buddhists achieve this. Similarly, few Christians demonstrate this. For Christians it is not so much the failure to achieve, but many that claim Christ do not actually have faith (trust) in him. Many that do have never matured in their faith (become like Christ). Most do not understand that our basic human nature is selfish and this can cause us all sorts of trouble. Transcendence is to be found in letting go of selfishness and walking in love (selflessness) aided by the Spirit of God.

It can seem like something too abstract and insubstantial to be worthwhile to someone suffering in pain in this life. The bible says "blessed are the poor in spirit". This is an interesting statement. One naturally asks himself why it would be blessed to be poor in spirit and what does being poor in spirit mean anyway. There are two Greek words for poor. One means those who have to work for a living and the one used here means someone who is like a beggar who has no family, friends, or hope for anything better. The sound made by the word is the sound someone would make by spitting. It is sad that someone so poor would then be spit on. However, the implication is that this would be someone who had no other source of hope so that his faith could be undiluted.

If someone reaches out to Christians for material help, they may start with a church. The organizational systems nature of most churches tends to process people like components in a factory. This can be useful to get connected with either church departments or passed on to governmental agencies for food or shelter. With help to straighten out a life, one needs wisdom and godly counsel. This may not be as easy to come by. Just like the Internet, one has to sift through a ton of baloney to find a useful nugget or two.