Christianity can be challenging without proper guidance. With the right guidance, it is the best decision that you will ever make in your life. Jesus commanded His disciples to spread the gospel to the whole world. By His grace, the gospel has reached you too and you are a new believer among many more worldwide. Salvation offers you a new life that is different from your previous one. Here, the Lord demonstrates his unconditional love for you daily in special ways. He protects you from harm because you are now His child, not another stranger. Both of you have expectations of each other and it is wise to understand them so that you may further embrace the Christian way of life. 

God’s expectations of a new believer.  

1. Spiritual thirst to seek God. 

The Bible likens the spiritual growth of a new believer to that of a young child. As a child needs milk for growth, so does a young believer. The longer you stay in salvation and understand God, the sooner you will gradually transition from milk to solid food (what is meant for adults). God understands your spiritual growth stages and is ready to grow with you to spiritual adulthood. The Bible further urges you as a new believer to crave pure spiritual milk so that you may grow up in your salvation. 

2. Gradual spiritual growth. 

As any parent would expect of His child, God expects new believers to grow in salvation. Jesus too grew in wisdom and stature. There was a visible change in His growth from the time He was presented at the temple, to His baptism, and the beginning of His ministry. God expects that your faith will increase with time in salvation. The worries you had in your first year of salvation should now be in the past. Your spiritual growth is important to God and the body of Christ. It is a testimony of what He has done in your life and is evident in the confidence you have in God. Apostle Peter was confident to tell the crowd that gathered during Pentecost about Christ. His spiritual growth is evident in his transformation from being a new believer (one who denied Jesus thrice) to becoming a leader of the early church (one who boldly confesses Christ). The Lord has a similar expectation on you.  

3. Spiritual discipline. 

Discipline is the quality of behaving well and observing set standards. Spiritual discipline in Christianity is the ability to obey God’s commandments and walk in His ways. God expects us to be spiritually disciplined in salvation, both new and mature believers. This will help us keep the faith and continue abiding by His will. Apostle Paul tells the church in Corinth about how he disciplines his body so that he is not disqualified even after preaching to others. New believers should follow the example of Paul as early as now. It will guide you to keep away from fulfilling your will but that of God. With spiritual discipline, most aspects of Christianity become easy to fulfill.  

4. Spiritual devotion

The good news of salvation needs believers to go the extra mile for it. Other people were devoted to spreading the good news until you received salvation. The Holy Spirit enabled them to fulfill that divine mission. As you grow spiritually, God expects a new believer to join the rest in spreading the gospel. It pleases God when more people receive Salvation and are rescued from sin and hopelessness. Further, spiritual devotion is committing fully to salvation. Giving your time, energy, and resources to Christianity is how the early church grew in size under the leadership of the Apostles. When you take care of God’s business, He takes care of yours. Jesus told His disciples that everything else shall be added to their lives when they seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. The Christian way of life requires a lot of sacrifice and devotion. It is not in vain for the Lord shall repay you as much in this world and also grant you eternal life. 

5. Spiritual faithfulness. 

Spiritual faithfulness is unfailing loyalty to God despite everything else that could lead you elsewhere. There are many temptations to a new believer aimed at showing him/her that Christianity was a wrong choice. Except you are strong, it is easier to be lured back to your previous lifestyle. God expects spiritual faithfulness from new believers. They need to overcome the persuasion to be backslide to their previous life. When the Pharisees tested Jesus on this matter, they asked him what the greatest commandment was. This is when Jesus emphasized spiritual faithfulness. He said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind. It leads to spiritual loyalty when you fulfill this great commandment. As you embrace the Christian way of life, do you fulfill the greatest commandment? You must do it. 

How to Overcome Challenges in Christianity. 

Both young and mature believers in Christianity face challenges that are unique to either of them. It is most especially easier for a new believer to lose faith because they are not strongly grounded in the word of God. God is encouraging new believers to embrace both the easy and challenging parts of Christianity. 

New believers in the early church faced the same challenges. It was becoming difficult for them to maintain salvation in the wake of persecutions all over. However, the apostles continuously encouraged them not to give up because God had a better plan for their lives. Paul urged the church in Corinth to imitate him as a role model.  

As a young believer, look up to the servants of God in your life and how they have continuously impacted your spiritual journey. They were once young believers and the Lord nurtured them to become the people they are now. There is a promise too that you will grow up from being a new believer to becoming a minister.

Related Blogs

[bdp_post grid=”3″ show_date=”false” show_author=”false” show_tags=”false” show_comments=”false” show_category=”false” show_content=”false” limit=”6″ category=”16,21″ pagination=”false”]

Please follow and like us: