When I was in elementary school, I attended church on a regular basis and was in catechism classes. As I got older, it got harder to keep up with my religious responsibilities. Now that I’m in college and living away from home, I’m realizing how important it is to have faith.
It is important to praise God and realize that He is always there to lend a listening ear. For the past few months, I have been searching for ways to renew my faith. I have been looking up different Bible verses, reading texts on Christianity, and talking to multiple people about religion. Thankfully, my older sister is very in touch with her religious beliefs and she is always open to talking about them with me. She has given me a lot of amazing advice and pushed me in the right direction towards renewing my faith. Thanks to my sister, I have found new ways to express my love for God.
One step I took towards renewing my faith was to start reading the Bible. Each day, I read from three different books and write about each passage I read “One-Minute Devotions for Women” by Carolyn Larsen has been extremely helpful for me. The book presents and explains one Bible verse on each page. It relates the verse to a woman’s everyday life. My sister and I have decided that we are going to read this book together and discuss how it relates to our personal lives. This has helped me stay motivated and on top of my readings.
The second book I read is called “In All Things Give Thanks: 90 Days of Gratitude” by Charles F. Stanley. Each page has a reason to thank God on it. After reading the page, I write about why I would like to thank God for that reason. It helps me realize just how much God does for me and why I want to renew my faith. The last book I have is called “The Daily Walk Bible: Explore God’s Path to Life.” It’s a Bible that is split into 365 sections so that it can be read in its entirety in one year. Since I have started reading the Bible, I have been able to apply lessons from it to my everyday life. For example, I have been able to de-stress much easier lately knowing that God is watching over me and I know that he will provide me with what I need. I am very excited to finish all three of these books and be able to say that I’ve read the entire Bible.
The next step I’m going to take involves going back to church. I am working hard to find a church near my college that offers various times for mass. I know it will be difficult to do, but I believe that I will be able to find a church that offers a mass time that fits my schedule. My initial goal is to go to church once a month and then continue to go more as time goes on and I make more time in my schedule. I plan on setting aside special time to pray and praise Him at least twice every day. By the end of this year, I know that I will be more in touch with my faith than I’ve ever been. I will be forever thankful to my sister for helping me renew my faith. I now feel like I can express my love for God and talk about it with her anytime I need to.
Her help means more to me than she will ever know.
