The First Step

   Sometimes I feel like many people look at Christianity in the wrong way. In their mind the first step is trying to be Christ-like. They read their Bibles, go to church, and try to be good because that is what we are supposed to do. That is true, God wants us to do those things I feel that He might say, "I long for them to explore my Word, experience fellowship with other believers, and continue trying to overcome sin because they love me and know that I love them." Big difference! Below I've broken apart the "God sentence." (I call it that because I believe that's what I've heard God saying to me.)
   I long for them to: God has a deep, unchanging longing for us to act on our faith and will prompt us to do so but by no means will He ever force us, it is our choice.
   Explore my Word: God doesn't want us to mindlessly read His word, He wants us to explore it. When you explore something you look carefully at everything. You take notes about miniscule details, you're excited about it, and most importantly, you have goal. God wants us to read with a real purpose, if that is to grow closer to Him, to help a friend or yourself with something, to become more knowledgeable about certain parts, He just wants there to be a reason.
   Experience fellowship with other believers: Not everyone experiences God through fellowship in the same way. If you zone out through the sermon and rush away with no time to talk afterwards, maybe big church isn't for you. A small sunday school class may be more suitable. The important thing is that we interact with other believers and learn from one another.
   Continue trying to overcome sin: God wants us to realize that it will be a continual struggle and the sin won't just disappear. Fighting sin is a lot like two beginners playing chess, you try to strategize but all you can really do is make some moves, constantly consult the expert, and do everything you can to protect your king.
   Because they love me and know that I love them: The underlying reason for wanting to be like Jesus must be love for it to be worth anything. He loves us so we love Him. We love Him so we want to make Him happy.
   In this case, the first step is to understand enough of God's love for us to love Him back.