Should I chase God or Personal Growth? As a christian

@dshipp

Based on both my experiences and suggestion, you definitely should chase God, first and foremost; from there, God will help you develop as a person, because you should pray, in the name of Jesus, to help you face and address whatever crisis or struggle that you are about to face. From my experiences, I can say that almost nothing ever went right for me, when I tried to focus on something else and treated God as if He was just there; when I started to place God at the center of my life, everything started to go right for me again. Just vocalize out loud that I believe that Jesus died and rose again to save me from my sins, ask Jesus into your heart, confess your sins, stating the promise in 1 John 1:9, and then ask Jesus followed by God to help you with your emotional and mental struggle, and to bring you peace and comfort; this prayer will help and you'll be feeling better, after you pray; let me know how it goes.

My experience in this regard taught me that I was already a true Christian, but God was chastening me; He was patient with me, until this realization came over me; after some more chastening, I delightfully made God the center of my life and what I chase; I often times have this mental crisis that you describe, but, I pray to Jesus about it and then meet my responsibilities. Just start praying more often to Jesus and in the name of Jesus, it really works.

@dshipp17: i the prayer john1:9?

It's as in First John 1:9 or as in the Book before 2 John 1.

Personal growth via self-improvement, first and foremost. Religion should be the last thing you turn to.

@rawsos: @dshipp17

If you're looking for Christian help, I guess it's not me you want to read. You won't offend me if you skip the rest of the message.

God does not expect you to do well, but for you to do better. Man is born with the burden of original sin, he has lost the perfection that God had given him. It's a vision that I don't share, but you probably do. Therefore, God's expectation is that man will again approach perfection, by his efforts and his behavior and not by stealing the forbidden fruit.

There is no definition of self-improvement. There are a multitude of directions in which to improve oneself. Not all are in God's plan. Look for the direction of improvement that will please God and not the one that will please You. There is joy in heaven whenever someone finds the right direction. The question is not God or Me but where should i go, me, to satisfy God.. It is a personal search that questions your conscience, the one that God has given you.

You don't have to believe in God to know that there are good roads and bad roads. There is good and evil. Good is always on the right path. Evil is tempting, it can bring pleasure, but it does not bring Joy.

I am deeply happy to find you here. I am deeply affected by your suffering. I am deeply convinced that you will find the right path. You deserve Peace.

I'm not a Christian but I have been to church when I was younger and studied the bible for a moment. I would say Personal Growth, if you're a Christian or not, God will always be there to help you, even if someone were to turn back on him back on him he will always be there to forgive you, (from what I remember). I mean TBH improving yourself doesn't mean you're ignoring god, you could just improve yourself while also praying on god.

Well if you are a Christian you should not be Chasing God as God should be with you supposedly already. Personal Growth should be the Goal as you are to Grow as a Person through the Laws / Commands / Scriptures of God.

@rawsos

Take note, while these posters are offering suggestions based on what God should do for a Christian, none are actually talking from experiences, as I speak; remember 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 and the Parable of the Sower; this is New Testament promise coming to fruition live and in action. Make and keep God at the center of your life, especially since Jesus's extraordinary efforts and sacrifice even provides us true Christians with such an option and choice; non-believers simply will not have this option to choose; however, based on my experiences, God likes to be at the center of my life, as I'm rewarded; I'm at the starting stages of another answered prayer that will be related to my economic circumstances.

I'm not a christian, but here are my two cents.

It seems like you already know what you should do, and the only thing stopping you, is the fear of being selfish. It's only selfish, if you do it at others' expense, but I don't think you're talking about anything like that.

Christianity does not conflict with self-improvement for most people (see any prominent christian historically or today), so there's no reason for you to treat it as an obstacle to a successful life. Take opportunities while you have them, because they will not always be there.

I'd say watch Futurama's Godfellas.

Matthew 6:33- “Keep on, then, seeking first the Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you”

I’m not quite sure what you mean by “improve.” When you chase God, that is endeavor to serve him and follow his principles, you improve your life significantly. Your relationships, outlook and overall well being will improve. Proverbs 16:3 reads “ Commit to Jehovah whatever you do, And your plans will succeed.” So when you say that chasing God will prevent you from improving I’m not sure what you mean. If you mean financially, and making a name for yourself in this world, remember this world is passing away (1 John 2:17) We don’t want to spend our time trying to accumulate items and pleasures for ourselves that we miss out on the bigger picture. Food, clothing and shelter is the priority when it comes to finances, (1 Tim 6:8) so when you want to “improve” your life by making good money so you can afford nice material things, you’re only buying stock into a failing system. Seek God, and everything you’ll need will be provided.

For what I understand, the key word is "Seek" and not "Wait for it to come". Correct ?

Person growth, always.

- Your King, Majestros.

As a Christian you should look to please and obey God and try to immerse yourself in his word to get better understand and be closer to Him. By obeying and seeking a closer relationship with God you will also grow as a person. it is not one or the other, but one that will help the other. they go together.

@rawsos I don't know if my message is strong enough to support you, but personally, I think that doing both is a good thing rather they are the same together. Obeying and understanding the lord through him is a way you will personally grow, as the other way around. Relationships between yourself and God will strengthen as you venture through your self-growth.

Both should be one in the same. Don't try too hard to chase such things, God is closest to us when we are our true selves. Understanding who you are as a person, reflecting on your goals and your values, coming to terms with your role in life, that is the beginning to becoming closer to God and to self improvement.

You don't need to chase the christian god, he's all around you and a part of you. Personal growth and doing the right thing will bring you closer to him if that is what you believe.

Chase personal growth to become a God.

@jacdec: thank you jac

@jacdec: yes seek. Meaning to actively work towards finding it, taking action

One in the same if you’re going by Christian doctrine

“God does not expect you to do well, but for you to do better. Man is born with the burden of original sin, he has lost the perfection that God had given him. It's a vision that I don't share, but you probably do. Therefore, God's expectation is that man will again approach perfection, by his efforts and his behavior and not by stealing the forbidden fruit.”

Originally, you hadn't tagged me so I noticed later, after checking this thread again. But, I'm actually guided to someone who has tagged me, where this website does not alert me to it. It's hard to really know how to approach you for me, because you appear to be so set in your ways, although help can be offered to you, provided you become willing to expand your base of knowledge.

From the perspective of Christians, Jesus has already bridged that gap that had been created by original sin. If you reject Jesus then this gap hasn't been bridged for you. In God's eyes, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God so actually, God isn't holding people who have not rejected Jesus to a perfect standard. The perfection is imputed upon us by the work and Blood of Jesus. God had to send Jesus precisely because of how people are likely to fail.

“There is no definition of self-improvement. There are a multitude of directions in which to improve oneself. Not all are in God's plan.”

If someone is Christian, everything best comes to us by holding God at the center of our life; and I know this from actual experience. Going a route apart from God either leads to certain failure or a position that's not going to be at its most optimal; I was mostly doing such inadvertently until I realized that God was chastening me for not holding Him at the center of my life.

“Look for the direction of improvement that will please God and not the one that will please You.”

The best and only way to do this is by having God at the center of your life. You have to give thanks to Jesus first and foremost, however.

“There is joy in heaven whenever someone finds the right direction.”

There is joy in Heaven each every time someone accepts the free gift of eternal salvation by accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior (e.g. also, think back to the parable where Jesus talked about leaving the 99 sheep to save the one lost sheep). There is no joy in Heaven for anyone who is continually rejecting Jesus, it only comes for a certain person whenever or if ever that certain person ever chooses to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior; but, rather, said individual continues to store up wrath in Heaven. As such, there is deep sadness in Heaven, whenever someone departs from this earth in rejection of Jesus, despite what said individual thinks their justification might be for having rejected Jesus.

“The question is not God or Me but where should i go, me, to satisfy God.. It is a personal search that questions your conscience, the one that God has given you.”

For Christians, that consciousness would be the Holy Spirit so there is no separating from God. From my experience, attempting such a route led to my chastening.

“You don't have to believe in God to know that there are good roads and bad roads. There is good and evil. Good is always on the right path. Evil is tempting, it can bring pleasure, but it does not bring Joy.”

Being good apart from Jesus and in rejection of Jesus is not helping you in the eyes of God. Knowing good from evil should also be telling you to stop rejecting Jesus while there is still time; time is of the essence for said individual (e.g. whenever I think about this, I'll start panicking or remain in disappointment until said individual finally accepts Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior).

God is the truth

The meaning of life is to find the most you can about God

Seek/Chase God the most

As the thought occurred to me, this popular church song came to mind that I should have first included with my first post: