Personal Truths

by searching4truth 14 Replies latest jw friends

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  avidbiblereader

  Confronted with lies is never easy. I for one still believe the Bible, not man. IF you still believe in a God, why don't you pray to Him and don't do it like you have ever before. Ask Him to show you and remember if you want to have an answer and expect Him to listen to you, communication is a two way street. Turn to His Word and not to men. I became so full of anger and being disillusioned by all of it, I turned completely away from the Bible for 2 years after leaving and yet this was the reason I became a Witness, they almost destroyed me, but now my relationship and understanding of the scriptures is better and clearer than ever. I now am more full of joy in the HS as never before. He answered my prayer and I don't care what others may think about me. I have seen it, know it and feel it. My service to God is my service to God and not dictated by man made rules but a sensible knowledge of the scriptures and the ones that I dont understand, to me it isn't important to salvation and most importantly Glory to God the Father through His Son. But to me the real truth is the Bible, it was hidden behind men and an organization.

  abr
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  coolhandluke

  bttt
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  becca1

  I too was raised in the "truth" and raised my children in it as well. After almost 50 years I'm on my way out. I have felt the very same things you mentioned. Some days are worse than others. For the most part I stay positive. I concentrate on making today the very best. I concentrate on showing love and compasion to everyone I meet. My goal is to be an encouragement to everyone that I come in contact with. I think that if I do this all other things will fall in to place. Jesus said the two greatest commandements were: to love god and love our fellow man. Even though I don't even know if I believe in the Bible at all, I think that is good advice. Nobody ever went wrong by being kind to others. The rest is all fluff.
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  exwitless

  Searching... I could have written your post myself word for word. That's exactly how I feel. I only DA'd 4 months ago. At first, I found it comforting to read Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom. Those books helped me to let go of a lot of guilt for even leaving the Almighty Borg.

  In the past several weeks, however, I'm finding that I am way too impressionable about religious or philosophical issues sometimes. Someone who feels strongly that there is a god, etc. can get me thinking 'Well, maybe they are right...'; then I talk to someone who is atheist or agnostic and again I start to think 'Well, maybe they're right...'. It can really make my brain hurt. After coming off of a 14 year "relationship" with the the borg, which doesn't allow you to think for yourself, it's hard for me to allow myself to think freely with no strings attached.

  So - I have recently decided for myself that I'm not going to try to come up with answers of a deeply religious or philosophical nature for the time being. I'm putting myself on a religious "Leave of Absence" for an unspecified time. I intend to live life day to day, make decisions based on my own experience, education, morality, and instinct, and cross each bridge when I come to it. I respect what others believe, but I don't feel obligated to answer to anyone about what I believe or why. For the first time in my life, it's none of anyone else's business to know or make judgements about what I believe.

  I would compare my "divorcing" the Watchtower similar to divorcing an abusive spouse. The last thing anyone "on the rebound" needs to do is to jump right into another bad relationship (religiously speaking). Allowing myself to not commit to specific beliefs at this point in my life is a huge weight off my shoulders. I figure that in the future when I'm ready to search deeper, the anwers will present themselves a little more clearly.
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  confusedjw

  Respect everyone
  
  Forgive yourself
  
  Be patient
  
  Trust the little person inside of you that tells you what is right, wrong and ok.
  
  Surround yourself with quality people
  
  You'll be just fine.