Words to a New Christian

Never lose hope. It is never too late for a person to find truth. Late last night, I put together an incomplete list of things I felt a new believer should know. A family orientation so to speak...

• You have entered a new family greater than you can imagine
  
• Your life will not get easier now, in fact, it will get harder
  
• You will come to understand great pain and great joy
  
• You can no longer do with your life as you please, it doesn't belong to you
  
• You have placed yourself in eternal service to a loving King, and gained ultimate freedom
  
• You will face times of great despair and doubt, and your spirit will be in agony for God's presence, and because of that, you will know He is real
  
• You will descend into spiritual valleys and climb to spiritual mountain tops
  
• You will hear God's voice through your new family members
  
• You will think of others before yourself
  
• You will hate yourself and then you will realize God loves you and wants you to see what he sees
  
• You will be changed, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly
  
• You will run away from God and he will follow you
  
• You will run to God and he will hug you
  
• You will find wisdom
  
• You will feel like a fool
  
• You will learn about great promises made to you and you will struggle to believe them
  
• You have traded the temporary for the eternal
  
• You will love people more
  
• You will often ask God "Why?"
  
• You will learn to trust
  
• You will fall and you will be picked back up again
  
• You will cry tears of compassion and joy
  
• You will learn to focus on loving God and people rather than trying to make yourself perfect
  
• You will learn to think about things that are good, and pure, and beautiful, and righteous
  
• You will learn not to worry about money, food, or clothing
  
• You will learn to never lose hope in a person
  
• You will learn to forgive and you will learn to ask for forgiveness
  
• You will learn to forgive yourself
  
• You will learn how important the Scriptures are and you will struggle to read them faithfully
  
• You will learn to pray because sometimes that's all you will know how to do
  
• You will understand what Paul means when he says to live is Christ and to die is gain
  
• You will learn the importance of silence and solitude as well as the importance of community and conversation
  
• You will be laughed at
  
• You will be respected
  
• You will have peace when all those around you do not
  
• You will develop great patience
  
• You will discover those around you see something good in you and they will wonder what it is
  
• You will learn you will never be able to learn and understand it all
  
• You will learn you made the right decision