Im 15 and ik that it is normal at my age to feel that way more often but i genuinely hate it i'll try to watch any media and i'd get turned on by the slightest thing and it makes me so angry when i snap out of it. Even when im alone with my thoughts it keeps happening and i hate it so much i wish it could stop but ik it wont and that make me even more mad and making me despair. It even makes lust harder to flex from and its so annoying and it makes me feel horrible i know god put those senses in us for a reason but i hate it so so much i dont wanna feel it i wish i was asexual sometimes

I’m 26F and have never had sex. I’ve gotten very close to the point that I’m not even sure I would be considered a virgin in traditional schools of thought. But as I get older, it becomes so much harder to abstain.

I’m devoted to my faith and want to offer myself as a living offering to the Lord. I also recognize all the logical and spiritual benefits of waiting. I want to wait but it seems impossible.

I blame myself for awakening love before it’s time but alas, here we are. I don’t watch p0rn, lustful movies or music either. So I’m not actively feeding the desire.

Marriage doesn’t seem in sight to me at this point. I don’t have viable prospects at this time. I do get a lot of male attention but that means nothing—by viable prospects I mean men who are saved, striving to one day be good husbands, compatible in terms of lifestyle and personality AND are pursuing me. I also don’t want to get married just to have sex lol.

Those of you over 30 who have been walking in consistent devotion to the Lord, have you been able to keep yourselves? AND HOW?!

Today I am 30 years old. As I reflect on my life, I am overwhelmed with deep sadness and regret to the point of not wanting to live anymore.

I’ve been addicted to pornography and masturbation ever since high school. It has taken everything from me.

Now I’m 30, have no career, no friends, and have never even had a girlfriend.

It destroyed my drive to go out and find a relationship.

It has given me major depression disorder that medication will not fix. I’ve tried many medications over 6 years.

It has destroyed my relationship with Jesus, and my will to live.

It has destroyed my will to socialize and make friends.

I’ve isolated myself for years playing video games and sitting on my phone.

It has destroyed my will to work hard and find a career path.

In fact I never stuck with a job for more than 2 years since high school.

When I was younger I had drive. I went to the gym regularly, had friends, and even got my pilots license. I wanted to work hard and create a life for myself and a family.

And now I have no strength to try and change any of this. I am bound and chained.

Some days after relapsing I feel so weak that I might even die.

Very rarely when I manage to get free for a week or so, I start to feel better physically and mentally. I get more energy, and drive to improve my life. I feel closer to God and feel like he’s with me and maybe things will get better. Eventually I fall back into sin every single time.

I don’t see how God can continue to forgive me as I see sin for what it is, tell myself I’m done with it, yet eventually turn right back into it.

I’ve stopped working out, I feel physically weak all the time, and I work a sedentary job. I feel my body giving up from the abuse.

I’ve read lots of Christian books, watched hundreds of hours of sermons, and have talked with christian pastors without any success of getting free.

Please don’t let this sin destroy your life like it did mine. I wish I would have taken Proverbs 5 seriously.

Sin truly leads to death. God is not mocked, we reap what we sow. The way of the transgressor is hard.

I want to share a view of Genesis 2:24 that helps me, and I want to give only a little detail to make it easier to read and pray about. Genesis 2:24 says "wife" before "they shall be one flesh", and special intimate feelings are part of becoming one flesh. Respecting that order helps my life so much. I also have a daily starting routine that I am getting better at keeping which is stretching, exercising, stretching, showering, having breakfast, brushing teeth, washing dishes, praying about goals.

Hi everyone, I hope your day is going ok. Ive come here today to ask some questions as know one I really know is Christian so I hope it's welcomed. I have been practicing spirituality for the past few months after some seriously wacky experiences as I wanted to find a more deeper meaning for mine, and I guess humanity's existance. Ive always been fascinated by jesus, I grew up Jewish and went to Jewish schools so I was already well versed in the old testament and its stories though i never really took it seriously tbh. Idk I think Jewish schools r kinda manipulative in what they teach as i never even heard of jesus until I started to become increasingly more interested in life and its cause. Anyway I feel now being an adult the religion of Christianity seemed to always leave a sour taste in my mouth. Not generalising of course just talking about my specific encounters with the religion and certain people practicing it. Basically I thought it rather judgmental and kind of a "im better cause I believe in this" type of vibe. Again I'm not saying its all Christians just my subjective experience. It just feels like a lot of people dont practice what they preach and theres a weird theme of constantly bringing up gay people whereas I feel other things the bible condems are brushed over? Dont know if anyone else has experienced people like that but its made me very hesitant. I began reading the bible a while ago aswell and to be honest jesus rlly started connecting with me in a way that felt real. I dont think I can align myself with a little of Christian frameworks if that makes any sense, though I havnt rlly researched all of them so maybe I should get on that l, but id really like to start following jesus and accept him as a path to a greater peace. I havnt been the best of humans. Ive done some horrible things, things that make me feel shameful and I realise the life im living is just chasing after the next high. If eastern philosophy has taught me anything its that I want to live a life where im not constantly self sabotaging myself and doing things just to feel a glimpse of euphoria, cause when its over I feel ten times worse and continue to do the same thing just to fill the emptiness. Sorry for waffling and if anyone's read this far I guess all I want to know is will jesus still accept me? Will he still love me even though ive done shameful things? Is that even possible?

Biblical Mysteries: Ancient Secrets That Strengthen Faith in God

By: Braden Arnold

Part 1: Understanding Why and How God is Real

Did someone create us? Why are we just here? Are there alternate dimensions and higher beings than us? Where do I go when I die? These are questions many people have asked, whether they are Christian or not. I just want to stop you for a second and allow you to think about these. Does your life feel complete? Is everything going great for you? You may feel like you need someone to go to with questions and someone to go to talk to. For those who are not Christian you may not know much about the Bible or Christianity but deep down inside I know how you feel. You feel like there is a splinter in your mind driving you mad. Like you’re in the matrix and you want to get out but you just can’t. You don’t know where to go or how to do it. Have you ever had the feeling that there is more to reality than what you can see? That there are questions that science, philosophy, or everyday life cannot fully answer? It can almost feel like something is missing—as if there is a deeper truth waiting to be discovered. This essay is meant to fix that and strengthen your faith in the one who created us. You will learn many biblical mysteries and not the basic lessons that everyone learns from church. You will learn things that will blow your mind and think, “Oh my gosh there has to be one who created all this paradise it would be impossible for it not to be.” For the people that are already Christian there will be many mysteries of the Bible and theories to deepen your knowledge of God.

Why does anything exist at all? You guys are probably about to start throwing the big bang nonsense at me. Before you start doing that listen to this. The universe had to have a starting point well if it did and there was absolutely no matter or anything at all how could all of the sudden, matter and paradise appear out of nowhere? Now you’re about to say evolution. But before you do think about this. God could have created the earth through the big bang; He could have made the big bang happen. Also, the extreme precision required for a life-permitting universe makes random chance mathematically absurd. This tells us that God could have done it for us. It was intentional and intelligent.

Every single cell in your body is DNA which works like a very highly advanced computer. Throughout time with humans there has never been complex code intelligence from raw matter. The detail in our DNA is insanely complex. Computer code uses 1s and 0s (binary) which gives us advanced computers AI and more. Guess what, our DNA has four that it uses it uses letters A, B, C, and D. All chemical code using chemicals to code your body. So, we are so much more advanced than computers and you guys are just saying an explosion created this. A single gram of DNA can store up to 215 petabytes (215 million gigabytes) of data. Do you know how much data that is? If you stored all that data in standard books, the stack of paper would reach from Earth past the Moon and halfway back again. Each cell holds that much information. Wow! Do you understand how amazing our bodies are? God created us with intention. “A cell is not just a blob. It copies information, builds proteins, repairs damage, uses energy, and communicates. That is wild.
If a tiny cell is more complex than a city, why should we assume it came from nothing with no mind behind it?”[1]

Humans have morality. If the universe was created as an accident; We would only have survival instincts. There would be no right or wrong, good or evil, or really feelings. We would be like a chimpanzee or a monkey. Someone would have needed to be the one who gave us moral.

The Cosmological Constant drives the expansion of our universe. So, think about this It is fine-tuned to an accuracy of 1 part in 10¹²⁰ now what does this mean? I will explain it through your imagination. Imagine an atom think about how tiny that is. Now think of that as a bow and arrow target. Now imagine someone on the other side of the whole, entire, gigantic, universe with a bow and they hit that target directly down the middle. Those are your odds. One atom off the whole universe would have violently collapsed.

Blood clotting is actually very complex and more proof God is real. When you get a cut, your blood clots to save your life, but it stops clotting before your entire bloodstream solidifies. Everyone knows this right? No one can argue right? This requires a cascade of over 20 specific biochemical reactions acting like a complex Rube Goldberg machine. If any single step fails, or happens in the wrong order, you either bleed to death from a scratch or your entire circulatory system clots solid. The system had to be fully functional from day one.

If for some reason none of this has affected you. I don’t know what will. I really think that I gave you the most insane evidence ever that almost makes you have to say that there is a creator but you choose to think and believe what you want to believe. If you want to research more insane stuff on proof God is real this was only a fraction of it just ones I liked. Now we are about to go into the mysteries of the bible and other biblical mysteries.

Part 2: The Mysteries

Now that you understand why and how God is real, we will go into what doesn’t make sense, messes with your mind, theories about them, why it is important, what this means, and other mysteries that are insane mysteries of the universe and similar stuff. Firstly, though you are going to have to understand that all of these mysteries are unsolved and theories I give you are just theories. Not truth guarenteed. We don’t know what they mean or what they are. That is the awesome and crazy part. Alright well, let’s get into them.

The Ark of the Covenant what was it and why is it important? The Ark of the Covenant is probably one of the most historically known biblical items in biblical history. The Bible says that if someone touched it, they instantly died. The Bible says it was given to the Israelites to show a physical representation that God was with them. To show his presence. What is mysterious about it is that sometime in history it mysteriously disappeared. Some people believe it is underneath Israel. Some believe God got rid of it sometime because no one needed it anymore. Others believe the priests hid it. Some believe it was destroyed or taken by invaders. One other really weird thing about it is the fact that if someone touched it, they died by lightning. Now why would our God who loves us and cares for us start zapping us with lightning because we touched something. That doesn’t seem like something he would do. One theory is that it could be a weapon he gave the Israelites. Or some really powerful conductor of electricity. Why was it plated in gold? It was said to be an acacia wood chest plated with gold. All I know is gold was a really good conductor it could have been advanced technology. Or something that was charged. No one really knows.

The Dead Sea scrolls was a very important biblical discovery. How they were found is very intresting. No archaeological search was happening for them no one was looking for them. Somehow though one day in the early spring of 1947 Muhammad edh-Dhib (a young Bedouin shepherd) was searching for a stray animal he through a rock into a cave. What was strange is that instead of hearing the rock hit stone or rock he heard breaking pottery. Curious, they went inside and found tons of historical records and biblical accounts. They took them to Bethlehem and sold them. Now most of them are in the Israel museum. Some though were entirely strange and didn’t make much sense. We will get into that in the next chapter.

The Copper Scroll wasn’t like a biblical manuscript but a real-life treasure map. There are a lot of things about it that people don’t know why it was made like this or written about like this. It was engraved on copper; The words were engraved on copper! That does not make much sense now does it? One reason might be to make sure it stays preserved and it won’t decay because it is metal. It may have held some very important information. It talks about treasure and where to find it gives you clues all over the world on where to find that treasure. The problem is though that the clues are so hard no one has found any of it yet as of 2026. It is definitely a very intresting story.

The Nephilim are more of a creepy and weird story. They were mentioned in Genesis 6 and described and talked about it much more in the Book of Enoch. It says they are a mix of man and fallen angels. That may sound weird but it was real. Genesis and The Book of Enoch say that demons or fallen angels came down to breed with humans. The Nephilim were their kids. It describes them as giants really powerful evil people. It happened right before the flood so they are all wiped out now. But that would show you how dangerous and horrible the world was before Noas ark.

The Watchers is another really intresting topic because they are very closely related to the Nephilim. They were originally angels led by a celestial being named Semjaza. One day though a group of 200 watchers were captivated by the beauty of a woman. They all together made a pact to descend to mount Hermon, take human wives, and procreate. The babies produced were the Nephilim (read the paragraph above). There are still some good watchers that are with God though. The Watchers were said to have taught humanity secrets such as astronomy, cosmetics, sorcery, and weaponry.

The Book of Enoch is a very mysterious book that many people wonder why it wasn’t included in the bible (as well as other books that were written historical and biblical accounts that are books that some people believe should be in the bible). It was written by multiple different people over time. It talks about angels, beings, judgment, Nephilim, the son of man, the watchers, heaven, and a lot more. It talks a lot about what we don’t know which is very intresting it talks about things that are in the spiritual realm or world which in my opinion is really cool and fascinating to learn about.

Leviathan and Behemoth were animals/creatures you would never want to meet in life. They were primarily mentioned in the book of Job. Behemoth is described as a huge land creature, and Leviathan is described as a terrifying sea creature that no human can control. They were not described much but are intresting to go into that topic.

The Book of Ezekiel could be either mysteries of the universe and the power of God or a man who was in a spiritually induced psychedelic hallucination. Ezekiel is very weird and strange because it is all about Ezekiel’s visions of God. In one part of it he sees very strange beings and, in another God, tells him to prophesize to dry bones and they become healthy again. It is a very strange book. You should read it for yourself.

The Book of Revelations is basically a prophecy for what is going to happen, in the future. Stuff that hasn’t happened. There are many strange and intresting prophecies in it and many theories for what they could mean. There will be a final battle of good and evil and many things that will happen. Under this paragraph will be the last theories and mysteries mainly about revelation and what is to come.

The Beast, The Dragon, and The False Prophet are really strange. In the bible it references the unholy trinity in revelations. Which is basically the reverse trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Satan basically copied God. So, in Revelations it talks about The Dragon (Satan), The Beast (the Antichrist), and The False Prophet (basically the opposite of the holy spirit). The Dragon is a copy of the Father, The Beast is a copy of Jesus our savior the Son, and The False Prophet is a copy of the Holy spirit. All of these are turned upside down into evil. It is a very intresting topic.

The Number 666 and AI are a scary concept. In Revelations 13: 16-17 it says something that sounds almost digital. It says this, “¹⁶ It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, ¹⁷ so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.” It is talking about the False Prophet. It apparently made everyone have to have the mark of the beast on their foreheads which was 666. What is intresting about this is that it says buy or sell. Now that sounds like a kind of a specific choice of words and also sounds very digital. (Examples: Stocks: buy or sell, crypto: buy or sell, eBay: buy or sell) there is so much more I could list but it all sounds digital. If it wasn’t digital, it may say trade or barter or something that sounds more like it would be in real life. I think possible AI could be the False Prophet in the future.

In conclusion, the Bible is filled with mysteries that make us think more about God, creation, history, prophecy, and the purpose of life. These mysteries are not just strange stories; they can become clues that point us toward the Creator. If you are still confused or unsure, that does not mean your journey is over. It may mean your journey with God is just beginning. Start praying, ask questions, and seek the truth, because God loves you and created you for a reason. Even if you have made mistakes, He will never give up on you. There are still many mysteries to uncover, but the greatest truth is that God is real, God is good, and God wants you to know Him.

So, my sister has gone through quite a lot due to poor life choices and to see the complete 360 she’s made has just made me so happy. She is so on fire for God at this time in her life, it truly is a blessing. At the same time, it’s a curse. I have heard from other family members how judged they feel by her. She just calls everyone out, I’ve witnessed it. I’m a Christian, a different denomination than my sister but I don’t feel that quarreling over the small disagreements between denominations is God’s will, Paul speaks on this often. She doesn’t feel the same. Lately, I have felt subtle little pushes from her to try to “convert” me. I finished cancer treatment back in February, so when she suddenly sent me a text message, just a couple of weeks ago, in November, that she wanted to celebrate with me, I should have thought it was odd to want to celebrate 9 months later. I didn’t though. I was excited. The plan was for me to stay the night, we’d have dinner, play games and watch movies. The whole time I was there, I played with my nephews, her 2 sons. When she finally came to hang out around 9:00 pm, she had me pick out a movie. Every move I picked out, she was offended, saying it was evil and we turned it off. A Christmas Story was the last one I picked out. When she was offended by that movie too, I just asked her to pick something then. She turned on a movie about a disabled kid and his dad. Things were finally peaceful. Then she asked me if I wanted to watch a couple of episodes of the Chosen after the movies. For 1, it was like 10:30 pm now, by the time the movie was over it would be nearly midnight. For 2, we had already discussed multiple times in the past that I have personal convictions about that show. I watched it once and yea, I have issues with it and it turns out, I’m not the only one, so, for the 20-something time, I politely declined watching the Chosen. She then proceeded to tell me how she can’t understand how I can watch evil movies like A Christmas Story but not be ok with the Chosen. She told me I was evil and that she had claimed her promise but clearly I had not. I took that as my queue to leave, so I got up and began gathering my things as she continued to yell at me about how evil and sinful I am and told me to never speak to her again. As I was walking down the ramp to her back porch, she’s still yelling at me from the living room. Her dog walks under my feet and I trip, crashing very hard to the ground. I am literally crying out in pain. Neither her or her boyfriend come to help me or even call out to ask if I’m ok. After I manage to get up off of the floor she then proceeds to come to me to continue yelling at me now about how prideful I am. As I’m driving away, she’s texting me, blowing my phone up. I blocked her but later went back to read the texts. She said that she “wore her heart on her sleeve” for me. What? Is she talking about the night she’d planned? Huh? That kind of made it clear to me. This whole night she’d planned, it had nothing to do with celebrating my completing cancer treatment or even just spending time with me. She was trying to save me. She believes that she is holier than me and it is her duty to save me. It really hurts. I truly thought she wanted to spend time with me. I am really, really depressed right now. My other sisters have cut her off and even my mother says that she dreads spending time with this sister because she is judged the whole time they’re together.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Full stop.

That will get you eternal life after you die. But what about now? Don't you want to reap some rewards from Jesus now? Wouldn't you like a taste of Paradise before you die? The peace and joy that is so great that you know it has come to you, from God.

That is all available to you. If you want some of the Kingdom benefits, you have to live a Kingdom Lifestyle.

You don't get to live a Kingdom lifestyle when you're dancing with the devil.

Do feelings of loneliness get better as you progress in your walk and grow closer to Christ? I have been saved for over 4 years now and struggling with loneliness despite living with others, constantly being around other believers through church and fellowship, and also having online Christian communities to engage in. I love God's word and I grow more and more in my love of what He has done for me as time goes on, but I still struggle with loneliness. I pray but I want so badly for God to take these feelings away from me as it's so hard and I feel so lonely. I also desire marriage but I understand God doesn't want me to be married (He has refused to bring me a Christian spouse and I knock at His door everyday about it, which is fine because obviously there's a reason) but I ask Him in that case to take away my feelings so I can be fully satisfied in Christ and they're still here so I just want to know if it ever gets better in this life or no. Thanks

In the last couple of years I happened to be in situations where I could have slept with somebody but decided not to.

But in the last two years especially I have an urge for some reason, like I just want to have sex and nothing else, maybe date.

I broke up with two awesome girlfriends because of it, they were willing to wait but not months and so I did the best for all. Idk why but I feel strange low-key. Is this human?

I even changed gym when a girl I liked asked for my number.....

I don't wanna keep running away when the situation present itself like in the past but I keep doing it. What should I do?

Hi all. I (26 M) have been dating my gf (22) for 8 months now. It's long distance and we met while I was on a chance visit abroad to her city with a friend. Neither of us were Christians at the time so we ended up sleeping together a lot during that week. We just couldn't stay away from each other. Following that trip we both found faith and it has moved fast for us both in that area. We are still long distance but my work as an entrepreneur allows me to travel freely so I have gone back to her city 3 times since April for 1 month at a time to pursue her.

We had been talking all day every day since we first met so Initially when I first went back to see her in May for 1 month, I had high hopes. She explained that she wanted us to go super slow as she had just found faith and I was soon to follow. I went to church for the first time during that trip and I've been going back ever since, both when I'm visiting her but I have found a local one too. She explained that the physical aspect of our relationship like hand holding and kissing etc would be a slow burner for her as that's how she's wired. I trust her on that, however it was a bit confusing as we had been intimate already. (Granted we had been drinking), but there were multiple occasions of this during that first week where I met her. Of course now we both want to wait until marriage.

During my last trip in August which was 5.5 weeks, she revealed that the thought of anyone holding her hand or kissing her kind of cringes her out at the moment. I wasn't sure on how to take that. Christian Friends advised that this was probably her grappling with her faith as it's extremely strong and she's probably trying to learn how to navigate it all.

My difficulty is that the relationship has felt slow recently. Its 8 months of dating her now and I'm currently in her city visiting her. By the time I go home, it will be 9 months. We still haven't kissed or held hands etc and to be honest, little things like that are massively important to me in a relationship. I only landed here today so I can't yet say it won't happen this time, but I am starting to get to a point where I don't know if me being patient will help or if I have to go and initiate. I want to respect her boundaries but similarly, I won't commit to a relationship forever which is without affection.

When I first met her she told me that quality time and physical touch were two major love languages for her. Acts of service also is huge for her and I've been focusing on that, but I am kind of at a point where I would want the aspects which matter to me, to start progressing. God has confirmed to me that this is my person but I can overthink at times and I'm not totally sure how to play this.

I'll be honest, a part of me would be super frustrated if I went home in 5 weeks time without any progression in the physical affection area. I'm starting to feel neglected/ impatient a bit as I give her 110% and take good care of her. It was fine to move slow in the initial stages but at 8 months, I think it's time things start to move a bit. But I'm also wrestling with 'love is patient, love is kind' etc and 'it is not self serving'. She especially lives strictly by the Bible now but it's hard for me as surely it's not intended in the Bible for me to permanently disregard my need to feel loved.

I'm asking this as a clueless new Christian who just wants some guidance so if I've said anything insensitive then I apologise in advance!

So my living situation is currently this: My father is 69 years old, has barely any income as he didn't pay for his pension and money wise depends mostly on me.
Now I am perfectly fine with this, I have no intention of kicking him out ever, he will not die alone for as long as i breathe.
But issue comes from his behaivour. He had surgery when he was young, which resulted in muscles support his back on one side to be cut off, giving him good 60 degree curve on his lower back.

Due to bad back, he became less and less active over last 10 years, resulting of course in his health worsening, most importantly his legs are becoming weaker every day, reaching state where he can't walk 50 meters without stopping for a rest so he uses his car whenever exiting house. He still has outdoors life, hangs out with friends, sometimes goes fishing, he ain't bedridden on death's door.

But he keeps acting like he is.
Often he would come into my room all wobbly with voice so desperate that it sounds like death itself is squeezing his neck and ask me most random things like "did you not eat anything", "did you not do this", "did you not do that", keyword being "not", he already assumes i didn't do anything...
And then 1 hour later he would go yippe ye somewhere to do something.

What is view on this?
I have no doubt he is in pain, but he is in far less pain than he acts like he is in. He is far from deaths door and only wants pity. I offer him to take him to any doctor, offer him massage whenever he wants... but no. He just wants pity.

I see self-pity as something very addictive and incredibly self-destructive, and i give him none.
I believe if i give him pity he will simply be reminded every living second of his bad health and that is last thing he needs, and i will just end up being depressed as well, which from looks of it he doesn't want, but fully expects me to be.
Whatever he needs, i'll be there, but pity i won't give, it's poison for both of us.

Biblically speaking, am I doing the right thing here?

Five years ago, my dad had a very aggressive cancer. With a lot of prayer and medical support, he lived 3 more years after it went into remission. He always gave glory to God for those 3 years, no matter how ill he felt later when he was dying. Ten months prior to his passing, and only 6 months prior to being told he wouldn't live, he had a curious experience that he told me about. I won't ever forget it because it was so eerily timed. He said he was in bed one night, awake, it was dark in the room and he looked beside him and there was a dark figure there watching him at the bedside. My dad saw its eyes, and when the eyes looked back at my dad, it startled it! My dad said it was like it realized my dad saw it, its eyes had a surprised look and then it disappeared. I like to think it was an angel and my dad said it was not a scary experience at all, that this figure was not there to scare him. I thought I might share this with others and wonder your take on it and if you have experienced anything like that yourself or known anyone who has. Please be respectful if you chime in, he was a great father, husband, worker, and wise/level headed Christian man.

I would classify myself as a Protestant believer.. I grew up hearing and believing that Jesus paid our debt that was owed to God.. and satisfied Gods wrath thereby. As I’ve gotten older and matured in my faith.. I’ve become very uncomfortable and bothered by the idea that God “needed” Jesus to die to forgive us. I understand that sin = death and blood = life but I don’t know.. it still simply doesn’t sit right with me. Especially in light of scriptures in the Old Testament where God simply forgives certain sinners.. or doesn’t even require a sin offering for sin but accepted grain offerings and other things.. or more famously the parable of the prodigal son in the NT.. that parable tells us what God is like and in it, yes, the son repents but the Father doesn’t require any sort of sacrifice to be made in order to forgive him. He simply forgives him and more than that.. celebrates him! The only thing that fatted calf was used for was for food to celebrate! Besides all of that, if God needs payment to forgive us, is that true forgiveness? Forgiveness is the letting go of a debt owed. It goes without being satisfied. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

But over the past year I’ve been looking into alternate atonement theories to find out what is true. I came across Orthodoxy and quite honestly I’m still trying to figure out exactly what they hold to. Because different Ortho believers seem to conflict in telling the main theory they hold to. Many have said they believe in PSA.. or a version of it.. some hold to ransom theory (so PSA without the wrath I guess?) and then many have said Christus Victor. The question of what truly forgives us still bothered me.. then I came across a video on YouTube of this older lady presenting the “Orthodox” view of atonement and she basically said that Christ died on the cross to set us free from the power of sin, death, and the devil (Christus Victor)… AND that God doesn’t need anything to forgive us. He simply forgives us by letting our debt go. Which sounds great but why does no one else seem to say that?

I truly want to believe that God just simply forgives us… well at least when we repent (I’m assuming) but I don’t see or hear anyone else in Orthodoxy teaching this. It’s usually that Jesus in fact paid the debt that we owed to the Father. But I’ve heard other Ortho’s say that He didn’t pay it to the Father but to no one at all. But that also doesn’t make any sense.. a debt is when you OWE SOMEONE something back. How can the payment just not go to anyone? Also, scripture doesn’t seem to support the idea that God forgives us without Christs death on the cross.. he said “This is my blood poured out for the remission/forgiveness of sins..” and also “without the shedding of blood there is no remission/forgiveness of sins” and really just the whole sacrificial system of the OT. Can someone help me understand what the TRUTH REALLY IS?? It should not be THIS hard to understand how our creator feels about us and how he handles the reality of our brokenness.

I was born with a neuro-psychological condition which causes my brain to process stimuli very differently. In my case, my brain doesn't fully filter stimuli (like background noise, air temperature, how dry my mouth is, etc), which means my brain runs at a much higher workload processing it all, even when resting. This causes me to become more easily overwhelmed by situations I'm in and mental exhaustion, and it makes processing social interactions more challenging, due to this different processing. There's also many other knock-on effects, such as poor sleep and emotional disorders. As far as treatment goes, the only effective option is managing stimuli and lots of rest. Because the condition is genetic, there's no cure, only management.

Where this all ties in with my faith is that I've always struggled with the limitations this has placed on me in regards to fulfilling the Great Commission. Across my life, I've felt inadequate due to the limited ability I have to evangelize to and serve the strangers around me. Advice I've generally gotten is that I need to lean into the discomfort so as to build those skills. With my condition, though, pushing myself so much is psychologically and physiologically harmful: it's known to increase anxiety and depression symptoms (often severely), decrease sleep quantity and quality, and increase general burnout/mental incapacity.

With the Great Commission being such an important part of Christian life (at least at the churches I've attended), it feels like there's an inherent conflict between what I'm called to do and the way that God has made me. I refuse to believe that I'm defective, because God knit me in my mother's womb this way. At the same time, I struggle with the idea that I’m expected to accept ongoing harm to my mental and physical health because of the preaching or culture in my church.

What do others think about this? Is there a way to understand the Great Commission that honors both the call to serve others and the limits God has given me?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am writing to you today with a heart weighed down by a pain I can hardly put into words. Some struggles are carried in silence, some tears are never seen, and some prayers are known only to God.

I am a husband who feels helpless watching his wife suffer from a serious illness. Nothing matters more to me than seeing her healthy again, seeing her smile return, and finally having the chance to live a normal life together after years of hardship.

My beloved wife, Marlene, suffers from kidney failure. Dialysis has become part of her everyday life. Years of hospitals, exhaustion, waiting, and fear. I have watched her fight through pain and endure difficult medical circumstances that no one should have to experience.

There have been countless moments when I wished I could take her illness upon myself, or carry even a small part of her suffering. I have been willing to donate one of my kidneys to her. All I ask is for the opportunity to complete the necessary medical evaluations and procedures for a kidney transplant, so that my wife may have a real chance at a better life.

But something that happened recently left a deep wound in my heart.

Someone said cruel and hurtful things to my wife, questioning how long she would remain sick and without children, as though she had chosen this illness, as though she were not already fighting a daily battle just to live.

She tried to hold herself together, but after we walked away, she broke down in tears and said words I will never forget:

"I am tired of everything. Sometimes I wish I had never left that hospital, and that my life had ended there, so this suffering could finally be over."

I did not know what to say. How do I comfort the woman I love when I see so much pain in her eyes? I held her hand and tried to remain strong for her, while my own heart was breaking inside.

I told her, "Please don't lose hope. I am here beside you, and I will never abandon you. We will keep trying and praying, no matter how long this journey takes."

Lord Jesus Christ, You know our circumstances. You know every tear we have shed, every night we have spent worrying and afraid, and every time we have entered a hospital without knowing what was waiting for us.

I am not asking for wealth or a luxurious life. All I ask is for my wife to regain her health, for us to complete the kidney transplant journey, and for us to live without dialysis sessions and hospital visits controlling every part of our lives.

I cannot leave my wife alone in her current condition, and because of this, I am unable to work as I would like. We desperately need an opportunity for honest work and a source of income that can help us continue her treatment, complete the medical evaluations, and cover the costs of the kidney transplant.

Lord, just as Jacob held on to You and said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me," I am holding on to my faith in You too. We have gone through difficult days and serious medical situations that we thought we might never overcome. Yet we are still trying, still praying, and still waiting for Your mercy.

There is another precious wish we carry in our hearts: to be blessed with a child. I long to see my wife become a mother, to see her holding our child in her arms, and to hear the laughter of a little one in our home after so many years in which illness has occupied almost every part of our lives.

Dear brothers and sisters, I do not know what tomorrow holds, but I know that I love my wife, and I will remain by her side and do everything within my power to help her have a better chance at life.

Please remember Marlene in your prayers.

Pray for her healing, for God to give her strength and health, for a door of work and provision to open for us, for the opportunity to complete her medical evaluations and kidney transplant, and for our family to one day be blessed with a child whom we can hold in our arms and cherish.

I am not asking you to solve our problems. I am simply asking you to remember us before God and pray for a family that is trying to hold on to hope despite everything it has been through.

Lord, we have suffered so much, but we still believe in Your mercy. Please do not let my wife continue to suffer, and do not let despair take over our hearts.

Give us the strength to continue this journey, and let the days ahead bring healing, peace, and joy.

Amen.

I’ve lost everything, my girl left me, I’ve had to move back in with my parents for now, I’m epileptic so I can’t drive for at least a year if I’m lucky. My ex was a devout Christian and at this point I don’t know what to do. I know Christianity is a religion of forgiveness and I just hope that despite everything I’ve done that I can find peace through it, am I crazy? Am I coping?

I have faith in Jesus Christ and believe He is our Lord and Savior. Seeing the news lately, I’ve been thinking about the end times, Revelation etc. Seems like the time of christians being executed is near. I am willing to die for my faith but the thought of death definitely worries me. I know this life is nothing compared to our real home in heaven but I wanted to ask you guys, how do you guys overcome this future?

I’m curious if there are any partial preterists in this group, specifically regarding your interpretation of Revelation.
What are the main reasons you landed on partial preterism? Were there specific scriptures, historical events, or theological inconsistencies with other eschatological views that convinced you?
I’d also be curious to hear what parts of Revelation you believe have already been fulfilled and what you believe is still to come.
Not looking to debate, just genuinely interested in hearing the strongest arguments for this position from people who hold it.

I believe in God and Jesus Christ. I am trying to read my Bible everyday a few, I'm trying to be a Good person, and yes, I struggle with sin, I fall short. But I don't think there is no Christian that doesn't struggle with sin. All I hear from people is "repent, repent, turn to God, Jesus is coming" and I panic everytime and question my salvation. I even heard "if you have a double life repent" but what does that mean? I have a normal life, I go to school, I sleep, I eat, I talk with people, I have hobbies I like and these are not spiritual. So what? What am I supposed to do to don't have a "double life" because that seems impossible to me. If I have hobbies and I like to talk with people and I like to listen to music and travel does that mean I love the world? How am I supposed to be happy like the scripture says I should always be if I won't have anything joyful in my life? How to ACTUALLY repent? Am I not enough? Christians scare me everytime they say that "Jesus is coming, get right with God, repent, turn to God" but HOW to do that?? I apologize to God when I sin and I'm trying to be better and know the word of God. But what should I do more??

How much does a guy’s sexual past matter to Christian women?

I’m 21M and grew up Christian. During college I joined a fraternity and went through a period where I wasn’t practicing my faith. I’ve had nine partners, through casual encounters and situationships rather than committed relationships.

I’ve since returned to my faith, and my understanding of sex and relationships has changed. I believe sex belongs within marriage, and I want to wait until marriage going forward. I genuinely wish I had waited, but I can’t change my past. What I can do is take responsibility for my choices and live differently now.

I want to date intentionally and eventually get married. This isn’t about a particular woman or a conversation I’m currently having. It’s something I’ve been thinking about as I consider dating someone who shares my faith.

For Christian women, especially those who have waited, how would you feel about dating a guy with that history? If you got to know him, liked him, and saw that his actions consistently matched his current beliefs, would his past still affect your attraction or willingness to consider marriage?

I understand there’s a difference between believing someone has sincerely changed and wanting to date him. You could respect where someone is now while still wanting a partner whose experiences are closer to your own. I’m interested in how that distinction actually feels from a woman’s perspective.

I’m also curious whether growing up Christian would affect your reaction. Would you view someone who stepped away from the faith and returned differently from someone with the same sexual history who became Christian for the first time afterward?

I’m looking for honest personal perspectives. How much would the history itself matter to you, and how much would depend on the person you know today?

I just left my evangelical asambleys of god church on Spain. im a male of 30 yo, from las palmas, the reasons behind it, i started to feel off when i was seeing my youth leaders acting like a chess game. also, seeing how they preached forgiveness but also recieved unforgiveness. this year i had a relationship that ended on fornication with a sister, (8 months ago) , repented from it. and yet 2 days ago i heard you are still limited and that's why i don't let you learn the ministry. (That irritated me so much)

i also feel that i will never marry and that's one of my greatests desires i still try to have peace on it. but it feels like it's never going to happen, i still ask the lord where is she my lord.

every day feels like a burden. that no one cares about me etc..

Hi bros/maams,

I'm a Middle Eastern Christian born and raised in America, and I've always felt a little out of place. I don't have an accent, and I look/dress/behave like a typical American, so it's not like that. You're not reading from somebody "fresh off the boat." No offense to those people. If you saw me you'd probably guess I was some kind of Greek/Italian/Hispanic American. But my interests and the way I think have always been different from most people around me. I struggle with small talk and connecting with people who focus heavily on trends, material things, celebrities, and social status. It's not that I judge them; I just genuinely don't care about what they care about.

It's not that I don't watch movies or listen to music/have hobbies. It's just that my interests were different, because I grew up different. I was not in a household that played Star Wars/Lord of the rings/Leave it to Beaver. For me, it was stuff like Jackie Chan/Van Daam. How can I be impressed by those movies after that? It's difficult lol.

This is how it is for me, in any genre/category. If you brought up metal music and thought Metallica was good, while I love Metallica, they are not as impressive as TOOL so how can I fake being impressed by Metallica?

What I'm getting at is I've learned that I dive a lot deeper than the typical consumer who follows the latest trends. So I can never be impressed by anything they talk about. It's like a true struggle lol. I also don't drink, which doesn't help.

Outside of Christianity, I have only ever found community with bass guitarists. But even in that, they don't like what I like. It's like niche, within the niche. The average person in the bass community (or really any instrument community) loves things that are overly technical, and to me that just doesn't sound good to my ear. So I don't really fit in here either lol.

Work stuff (the real reason for this post):

I'm a high performer at work. I've spent 17 years across four companies consistently outperforming expectations, improving systems through the use of technology, and even teaching the very experts who trained me. Yet I've repeatedly been overlooked for raises and opportunities. My last company even used the fact that I didn't have children as an excuse to pay me less. My argument to that is that I don't want kids living in poverty as I did. Should I go and have a baby just to get paid more? It was a ridiculous argument. After promising me a raise based on my performance and failing to honor that promise, I finally decided to walk away. They did NOT expect that, because they viewed me as soft, because I am extremely polite. That company could not sustain the workload I brought them, and they lost the company. This isn't my speculation; former colleagues told me what was happening. Phone lines were going absolutely insane, and everybody was struggling to keep up. This stuff happened after I overperformed, and articles were written about the company.

Every time I leave companies, they hire 5 people to do what I did. More often than not, it turns into a high turnover rate situation. It doesn't even make sense to me, logically. Why not just pay me more????????

I have thought maybe I'm a threat to management, but I don't even know how to "slow down" to prevent that. My logic on work has always been "Colossians 3:23–24" and in my experience, hardly anybody actually works like that. I literally don't know how to tone it back. If I try, it looks like I've checked out and am being lazy.

I've started to feel like I'm better suited for leadership than being an employee, but I wonder if my personality and not being a typical culture fit are holding me back.

I'm looking for biblical guidance on feeling out of place, being overlooked, dealing with unfair treatment, and learning to forgive. I struggle with trusting people after being taken advantage of, especially when companies repeatedly promise things they don't deliver.

Are there any Bible stories or verses that speak to these struggles? I'd also love to hear from other Christians, especially those who grew up with immigrant parents, because I feel like I can't be the only one dealing with this.