I struggle because I have never experienced or felt my religion
Question:
My question is about Christianity itself. I go to one of those big non-denominational churches you see in the metropolitan areas. I have kind of been struggling with actually experiencing God or feeling any presence. I'm not even sure if I'm a Christian. To clear any pre-misconceptions I never say profanity. I'm not against God for whatever reason. I certainly am not choosing to be agnostic or atheist at all. I just have a hard time feeling much spiritual movement when we're on this earth. I can't smell, hear, see, or use any of my human senses to know Jesus better or at all. I'm not against Christianity, I just have a hard time feeling God is here all the time, even though I identify myself as a Christian. I go to church once a week, listen to ministries on TV sometimes, and I agree with what the Bible says 101%. It's just that my natural senses can't always experience him which prevents any real closeness. Maybe I'm just not a super devout Christian and more of the casual type, I don't know. However, I am positive that I am Christian to some extent, I just don't know how much.
Answer:
It is strongly ingrained in society that religion is some emotional feeling, despite the fact that God teaches that emotions are deceptive. "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But whoever walks wisely will be delivered" (Proverbs 28:26). I constantly run into people who are convinced that something isn't real unless it is felt. But it is feelings that are unstable. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9).
Truth is established by knowledge. "By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked" (I John 2:3-6).
If you want to know if you are a Christian, then the proper question is are you following Christ or your own impulses. "But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do the things which I say?" (Luke 4:46). "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15). Of course, that means learning your Bible which is where Christ and his teachings are discussed. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
Faith isn't a feeling. It is what you trust is true after examining the evidence. That will lead to feelings within you, but it isn't the feeling that is the cause, it is the effect of your trust that is based on the evidence.
