If I would start to believe in God..would my life be better, and how?
454144
I was raised a Catholic, which taught me nothing except what I had to fear, what I had to do in order to get to heaven and not hell.  Go to confession regularly.  That was always a nightmare, telling a priest my most personal information.  What bunk!!  God has done nothing for me in this life.  He never took away my pain and misery.  I learned to deal with that on my own.  So why would I need a god?\nGod takes many forms and ideas.  The fact that every nation on this earth has a god of some kind, proves that he does not exist, otherwise we would all believe in the same god.  We create misery and wars in the name of god.  That is supposed to be a good thing?\nI see god in nature all around us, the renewal of life, the oceans, the mountains, the prairies and deserts. And lastly but not least....the devil can be your god, and that is not a good thing......\nBeing a good person is what it is all about!
299489
Of course when you ask a question like this you are going to get mixed answers from believers and non-believers.  Believing in God is a conscious choice. You either decide He is, and conform your life to that belief, or you chose not to believe and act accordingly.  DO NOT let anyone else make that decision for you!!!  Believing in Almighty God is a step of faith; God is beyond our comprehension.  We cannot even begin to understand His thinking or His "ways" because we have nothing to compare Him with.  That is why it takes faith.  \n\nI suggest you pray and ask God, with all your heart, to reveal "truth" to you; pick up your Bible and read.  This is how you "Seek" truth.  If you seek Him; you will find Him!\n\nBe careful you do not let the devil into your mind!  By asking a question like this you are inviting input from the spirit of the anti-christ.  You are spiritually vulnerable right now.  The Bible tells us to "guard your hearts and minds".  Input from non-believers is going to add to your confusion!  Surround yourself with believers and when you come into unity with them; you will see the manifest power of God.  First comes the believing (faith), then comes the seeing!  You won't see God until you believe He's there!  We take the first step then He keeps feeding our faith to grow it stronger by showing Himself in many ways.  \n\nIf you don't look for Him you won't find Him.  But that doesn't mean He's not there!!!  Just like those who chose not to believe in God, doesn't mean He's not real.  They just chose not to believe in Him!  \n\nI am believing for you.  You will find out that God is real and you will become a powerful witness to His Glory!!!
68917
I became a Christian when I was 14.  My grandma was living with us and had Alzheimer's disease.  There was a lot of fighting in my family.  I was watching TBN and Jan Crouch invited me to give my life to Christ.  She said that God wants to take me from where I am and do something amazing with my life.  I just have to trust Him.  So right then and there I bowed my head and asked Christ into my heart.\n\nSince then, God has done amazing things in my life.  Today, I'm a college graduate and will be pursuing a Master's degree in Special Education.  I was on my college newspaper and won a first place award in the entire state for my Opinion writing.  I give all the glory to God for my accomplishments.\n\nGod even rescued me from a cult.  I joined a cult when I was in college, and my spirit began to cry out for God.  Late at night, I went to the Christian church where I'd been baptized originally.  The (huge) church was completely empty as far as I could tell, but I saw a light under one door.  I put my hand on the door handle, opened the door, went in and prayed with the pastor in there.  After that I became active in the church again and seeing me later the pastor told me that the door I'd walked through was acutally locked -- he checked after I left, but I'd opened it like it was open.  I know a miracle happened there and God opened the door for me.\n\nOn an intellectual level, I've come to understand that God is more real than we have ever imagined.  I've read books such as "More than a Carpenter" by Josh McDowell, "The Case for Faith" by Lee Strobel and the information on the website of the Institute for Creation Research at http://www.icr.org  As I've gotten older I've come to believe in God on an intellectual level as well as in my heart.
80367
Depends on your point of view. If u have religious faith, u can try to be more religious and practise it in your daily life. If u r agnostics, well then I'm sure u can come up with something that can satisfy u and make u happy.
999303
basically god always wants you to try helping yourself first as best as you can then pray to him. after that? patientce and have faith ;)
361174
First, don't dwell on the negatives in life. There are so many little blessings in life that so many people overlook. I am also a Christian, so I also have the comfort that God is control, and He makes no mistakes. God gives us trials in our lives to draw us closer to Him, and God would not give us a trial that we do not have the strength to overcome. Hang in there, and just look on the better side of life.
1153540
Believing in God does not make your life easier.  \n\nWill God give your marriage security?  Will God protect you from heartache? \nFrom Sorrow? Hunger? Poverty?  \n\nNo.   How will he make your life easier? The only thing he gives for you is hope and fear but you can get that without him.\n\nI do not feel alone.  I know God will not make my life easier only I can do that.
769003
It is best to do what God has told you to do and do it then. I have been there. You are always happier when you are in Gods will than when out of it.
133137
WoW! Interesting and deep questions...\nI would get on my knees and pray, but not just on my last day; praying everyday is a good thing.\nI would accept it being my last day, because what ever is God's will is fine...and I do believe there is a better life after this earthly, physical life. As for fearing death, I'm pretty sure I would, but again, there is something greater to look forward to, and God says that this life is nothing compared to the afterlife. So...I do believe in Heaven, but not the "mythical" sitting around on a cloud thing that some of us learned in some churches. I believe Heaven to be as you said, "to see the face of God" and Jesus Christ"...and much more than that. Those chosen to be in God's government, ( as opposed to these corrupt, worldly governments that exist now, will be wiped away, along with all the misery and suffering!) will help set up a fair and right government, which keeps God's laws, ( not all these man made B.S. laws!) This new system of living will allow people to learn to live God's way, with peace and happiness. (I'm sure there will be opposition on this!) Many more wrongs of this messed up world, will be corrected...Lots of work to do! No time to just sit on a cloud!\nAs for HELL!!! I believe that, as the Bible says, it is a consuming fire, and that it serves the purpose of burning up those who will not accept God's law, after they have been taught in the future. It will be as if they never existed; so basically, we are all given the chance to learn God's ways, either in this lifetime, or in the next...amd hopefully, we'll accept it, and not be destroyed in hell! There is also the mythical "Dantes Inferno" which influences us to think of hell as an ever burning punishment...I don't believe this is true at all...God is loving and merciful, and will give us another chance to learn how to live, how to love, how to obey, how to be happy, how to live harmoniously with one another, no wars, how to worship etc.....and IF we continue to want to live, as we do now, with Satan's influence dominating this messed up world, that's it! Stick us with a fork! We're done!!!
464591
God bless...I'm so glad you keep being so curious about God, keep it up and someday you may finally come to him and believe....God bless
533470
For a self-descrivbed atheist, you seem to have a lot of questions about God and religion...even so far as to use the expression, 'honest to god'.  \n\nI wonder, if you do not believe in god, of what difference can it make to your life if others do?   Just think what you can do with the time you spend questioning how others live their lives.  \n\nIf you learn to be gracious, and realize that god-based comments from others are not meant with any evil intent (except the occasional directions to a certain perceived, very hot location), everyone will be happier, especially you.\n\nGood luck.
399786
yeah God can give you hope, change your life correct yourself and go away the gay lifestyle start your new whole life, go to church, make friends spread the word of gGod and you will be loved by someone ESPECIALLY GOD. GOOD LUCK DUDE.
365527
No, I wish I could believe in something as great as a God.
273841
i would like to put aquestion in front of you\nmy question is do you believe in GOd?\n\nif yes , then please keep faith in him\nhe has never shut the doors of his heart for anyone who came to him for help\n\nplz pray to him, know him better because he is the only one who can understand you better\n\nand later in your life one day you may realize that this problem had come to you so that u could come closer to God as i have
75906
I think that belief in God and faith in Jesus Christ has changed my life.  Not in an out-of-touch wierd way, more the way getting to know a close friend better can encourage and inspire you to do things differently.  I love my faith.  I believe it is the one true way to Heaven, and that I was put in this earth for God's pleasure.
1001068
I'm not an atheist... but I'll take the hypothetical anyway and pretend that I'm being asked to convert to a particular religion, being as I am not religious at all. The question is, after all, would I convert and practice a belief system different from my own to save my daughter.\n\nWell, of course I would, generally speaking... but would it matter? As you say... if there's a God, He would know that I didn't really begin to believe anything different, and I'd probably make him that much more angry with me. I'd do an awful lot for a child of mine.\n\nI've decided to pose the question that gwad suggested, as I'd like to know what other religious people think. :)
462850
Yes... I mean no....I mean, I don't know.  Questioning one's own belief system is essential to spiritual growth and evolution.  All the ones that answered "no" so quickly are the one's that, in my mind, need to get a reality check.  Don't be so sure!  Take a look around, there are more questions than answers and there are more opinions around the globe than we can count.  So, be okay to question your faith and the very existence of "god".  You may come back full circle, or you may not.  But at least you can say that you've looked outside the narrow little box that most people live in.\n\nI'm sure that if god exists and assuming that god gave you a logical mind to work with, god wouldn't mind if you questioned and explored those issues.  I haven't seen anybody struck down to a pillar of salt lately!  So free your mind, go exploring!