Personally I don't believe anything we can do in our lifetimes can cause us an eternity of torture in Hell. That aside though...

I was wondering to myself about repenting and started asking myself if I felt sorry for my sins.

I won't get into extreme details but when I was young I was involved in a lot of vandalism/stealing and did it on almost a daily basis.

I do feel genuinely sorry and have asked God for forgiveness on the matters on numerous occassions but I found myself thinking this...

Doing what I did back then made me who I am today. If I hadn't stolen/vandalized and hung out with the group of people I did, I might not have went down the same path I am currently on.

I might not have met some of the people I have met and I might not have found my faith in God.

So while I do feel sorry for doing those things, I realize that I'm almost glad I did them because they built the character I have today.

So is it safe to say some of the negative things we do and some of the sins we commit are part of God's plan?

I believe everything happens for a reason, and I believe God has a plan for everyone. So would God intentionally put it in your plan to sin so you may realize your mistakes and find faith in Him?

I personally believe if I hadn't done the things I've done I never would have found God. I already didn't believe in him before I started doing the things I did.

So if everything was going good in my life I would have had no reason to find my faith.

God would not intentionally lead you to sin. So, instead of believing that, try and understand this situation in a different perspective. I don't have time to digress right now, but if you would like to pm me after you brain storm a bit, I would love to help.

You have it butt backwards .

To repent of sin does not mean to feel sorry that you committed them . The literal translation is " to turn away from " and it is in this that we build character and allow God into our lives .

This post was edited by WidowMaKer_MK on Sep 28 2010 11:39am

well, to be honest -- God places us each with our own challenges. I know if i didnt go down what i went -- i prolly wouldnt have gotten saved. However, does that mean we should look at it as God's plan?
in my opinion, no, because i would've came to God some other way more than likely, because the Truth is what i was looking for, and thats what Jesus is. However, its written
'He who is forgiven much, loves much' does that mean "IMA GO BECOME A CRACK DEALER SO I CAN LOVE MORE!" lol, absolutely not -- me being human [and everyone who hears that scripture thinks it too] i have thought
'well, dangit! if only i beat up a few kids' (semi-kidding, however thoughts liek that instinctively pop into our heads because we ARE human.)

thats kind of my input on it.

That is such a happy story I think I might cry.

Sorry I always tend to get a bit emotional in times like these...

that very arrogant. do you know god did you ask him this. then shut fuck up Dont speak for god.

How is that arrogant? What I said is stated in the Bible, which is God's word. So yes, He did tell me this...?

I think you're the one being arrogant

But you can't truly repent if you don't feel sorry for what you've done wrong. If you simply stop doing something without realizing the reason for not doing it then you haven't learned your lesson.

You begin repenting by realizing what you're doing is wrong and feeling sorry for doing it, then you learn how to stop doing it and replace your sin with faith.

I also never see a positive post from you on these forums or on jsp. You're a very negative person, every post you make is attacking somebody in some form and I feel sorry for you and your aggression.