How to Be a Faithful Christian

Engaging Your Faith Community

Go to church regularly. Worshiping as a community is important in all Christian denominations. Attend worship service weekly and, depending on your denomination, on holy days of obligation, such as Christmas, Easter, and Ash Wednesday. Christians typically attend weekly worship services on Saturdays or Sundays. For groups including Anglicans, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians, worship centers around Holy Communion. Through this ritual, Christians remember the Last Supper and Christ's sacrifice for humanity. In other denominations, such as Baptists and Quakers, community worship is less structured and centers on Bible readings, sermons, and music.

Receive the sacraments according to your denomination's traditions. Sacraments are rites of passage that help you confirm your faith and share it with your community. Most Christian traditions recognize at least 2 sacraments: Baptism and Holy Communion. Baptism often occurs soon after birth; First Communion in many denominations happens around age 7. While nearly all Christians celebrate these core sacraments, some traditions recognize several additional rites of passage. Catholicism, for instance, recognizes the additional sacraments of Confession (also called Penance or Reconciliation), Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. While you receive some sacraments, such as Baptism and Confirmation, only once, others are celebrated regularly. For instance, after your First Communion, you receive Holy Communion every time you go to church.

Seize learning opportunities, such as Bible study and Sunday school. If a Scripture passage or church teaching is confusing, never be afraid to seek clarity. Needing to learn more and asking questions doesn't mean you're unfaithful. Rather, it shows you want to deepen your faith, and it can help you gain knowledge and wisdom. You can also ask your priest or minister questions about your faith. For instance, if you want to know more about a passage in the Gospel or sermon, ask about it after the service. If you find teachings on Holy Communion confusing, ask about your tradition's beliefs and why different denominations hold unique views.

Volunteer to put your faith into practice. Your church can likely connect you with a range of service opportunities, such as at a soup kitchen, shelter, or nursing home. Community service can help you put Christ's teachings into practice. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus calls for Christians to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead.Being a Steward of Creation: In addition to helping other people, taking care of God's creation at large is also part of being a faithful Christian. Cleaning up a local park or volunteering at an animal shelter are great ways to be a steward of God's creation.

Attend spiritual retreats to deepen your relationship with God. Churches typically offer retreats every now and then for members of the community to pray, reflect, and learn more about their faith. Retreats often involve trips to spiritual sites and activities such as meditation, singing, journaling, arts and crafts, and group discussions. Christian schools, youth groups, and other organizations also host retreats. Ask your priest or minister or another leader at your church about upcoming retreats and how to participate.

Deepening Your Faith through Private Worship

Pray to God every day. Calm your mind, focus your thoughts, and open your heart up to God. When you're happy, say a prayer to express your gratitude to God. When you're sad, angry, or scared, pray for strength and guidance. To get into a prayerful state of mind, it's helpful to read a Bible passage or recite prayers such as the Lord's Prayer or Hail Mary. Then, talk to God using your own words, like this: “Lord, I'm at a crossroad and need help making a decision. Please give me guidance and grant me the strength to follow your plan.”Tip: When you're reciting prayers like the Lord's Prayer or Hail Mary, remember to focus on the words and their significance. Don't simply recite them without paying attention to their meaning.

Read and contemplate daily Bible passages. Try to find time each day to carefully read a few verses from the Bible. Read the passage slowly and imagine the setting as vividly as you can. Concentrate on the verses' meaning and how you can apply the message to your daily life. If your church offers a Bible study group, sign up for it to read and discuss passages with your community and faith leaders.

Write daily and weekly entries in a reflection journal. Each day, jot down things you did right and what you could have done better. Then, on Sunday, reflect on the past week's entries. Try to think of a spiritual goal for the upcoming week based on your past entries. For instance, if you were mean to someone last week, offering them a sincere apology could be your goal for the upcoming week. Examining your conscience on a regular basis and setting spiritual goals can help you live according to Christ's teachings. It's a bit like developing other healthy habits, like physical exercise. If you exercise every day, it becomes part of your routine and you get in better shape over time.

Look for signs of God's presence in art and nature. Spiritual music, visual art, and literature can offer powerful, emotional experiences of God. A painting, for instance, could help you reflect on a story from the Bible. Nature's beauty, from the Grand Canyon to a lush forest, can also fill your heart with praise for the miracle of creation. When you feel like your faith is being challenged, the beauty of art and nature can help remind you that God has created an incredible world and has a plan for you.

Staying Committed to Your Faith

Ask God for the strength to resist temptation. Everyone experiences temptation throughout their lives. When you feel tempted to do the wrong thing, pray for strength and try to find something to distract yourself. If someone is peer pressuring you to do something that isn't right, have confidence in yourself, remember your values, and ask them to stop. Try asking yourself, “What would Jesus do?” if you're feeling conflicted. Saying the Serenity Prayer can also help you push through moments of temptation: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Confess your sins or seek your minister's counsel. No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. In some denominations, such as Catholicism, the sacrament of Confession is an important part of overcoming your shortcomings. If you feel like you've turned away from God, confess your sins to your priest and ask God for forgiveness. If your denomination doesn't practice the sacrament of Confession, pray to God for forgiveness on your own and ask your priest or minister for advice about spiritual healing.

Embrace doubt as an opportunity to strengthen your faith. Don't feel ashamed if you have questions about your spirituality. Even the most faithful followers of Christ experience doubt. Try sharing your feelings with friends and relatives, and ask faith leaders at your church for advice. Keep in mind God's plan is beyond comprehension, Christian faith involves embracing mysteries that can't be understood through reason alone.Tip: Always remember that experiencing doubt doesn't mean you're unfaithful. Rather, it means you take your faith seriously and have a sincere desire to deepen your relationship with God.

Respond to suffering and evil by helping others. In addition to general doubts about spirituality, the problem of evil is a specific challenge all Christians face. You may feel your faith tested when, for instance, a natural disaster occurs or something terrible happens to a good person. Remember that this is an imperfect world and suffering, as difficult as it is, is part of life. For Christians, suffering has an important purpose. Suffering connects us to others and helps us become better people. If you've suffered in the past, you're more able to help someone else who is suffering now. Suppose, for example, your friend is upset because they were teased at school. If you had to deal with a bully in the past, you're in a better position to help your friend overcome the situation.