Questions about God, you, and others:

“What should my attitude be toward Christians whose ideas or whose understanding of Christianity is different from mine?” Instead of trying to correct them right away, first focus on connecting with them. If you’re respectful and understanding toward them, you can both learn from each other and discover more about the truth together.

“What is the Great Commandment – and what makes it so great?” The commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said that He considered it to be the most important of all His teachings, so it’s important to pay attention to it.

“What is the Great Commission – and what makes it so great?” This is Jesus’ call to all believers to share His Gospel message with other people. Every Christian should evangelize others, but not in the same way. Feel free to share your faith with others in any way that’s most natural for you. But don’t neglect the call; it’s vital for everyone whom God has called to do their part. Trust God to help you evangelize, and He’ll use you in amazing ways.

“What should my attitude be toward the nonbelievers in my life?” Be sure to interact with them with love, patience, good humor, and understanding. Remember that they may very well be watching you to see how you’re living out your faith and using what they see to form an opinion about Christianity. Share your faith with them as the Holy Spirit leads you to, but be sure to be respectful of them in the process and take the time to build genuine relationships with them. A good place to start is by describing how your faith in Christ has changed your own life for the better, rather than jumping in to suggest how He can change their lives without truly getting to know them well first.

“Does being a Christian mean I have to forgive everyone who’s ever done anything bad to me?” God wants you to forgive all the people who wrong you, just as He has forgiven you for every wrong you commit. That sounds incredibly hard, but the good news is that God will give you the power to do it if you’re just willing. In fact, when you’re filled with the Holy Spirit, you’ll be so filled with love that you can’t help but forgive others for anything.

“How can I increase my compassion for other people?” Realize that that every person you encounter is made in God’s image and is really your brother or sister, not just a stranger. Ask God to give you His perspective on other people – especially the difficult ones you don’t naturally like. Make the time to truly listen to people and seek to understand their struggles.

Questions about sin, the human constant:

“What is sin?” People sin anytime they think or do something wrong – something that contradicts God’s loving will. Sin will make you feel bad and move you farther away from God. When you sin, instead of wallowing in guilt or shame, let your sorrow motivate you to turn to God.

“Why is it important that Christians confess their sins?” Confessing your sins will repair your relationship with God that has been damaged by those sins, and give you relief from guilt and shame.

“Why is repentance so important to me?” If you don’t turn away from your sins through repentance, God will turn away from you because you’ve set yourself up in opposition to Him. It’s not enough to just feel sorry about your sins; you must also decide to never commit those sins again. Repenting frees you to move toward God rather than continuing down the destructive path away from Him.

“What is the ‘atonement’ of Christ?” This refers to the fact that, on the cross, Christ paid the final price for everything bad humans would ever think, say, or do. He died for the sins of everyone throughout history, and because of His sacrifice, He made it possible for everyone who trusts in Him to connect to God forever. Thanks to Christ’s atonement, you can find the ultimate forgiveness for your sins and live with God for eternity.

“Is it possible for me to stop behaving in sinful ways?” No. It’s not possible in this fallen world to completely eradicate sin from your life. But when you rely on God’s power to help you, you can gain great strength to help you overcome a lot of sin that would otherwise wreck havoc in your life. Until you go to heaven – an environment that’s completely free of sin – you’ll need to stay engaged in the battle between good and evil that’s raging on our planet. So stay close to God every day.

“Is there any sin that’s beyond forgiving?” There’s only one, which is turning against Christ after you’ve started a relationship with Him. But absolutely everything else will be forgiven completely and forever once you confess and repent of it.