I am too lost to consider myself an adequate Christian but I believe in God, and I believe in Jesus too...

Listen the only thing I know, and I know for a fact is that God loves you no matter what, so don't be so hard on yourself.

I hope you gain a sense of peace in knowing that... but I'm sure you do already. Good luck in everything

God knows your heart and He knows why you do the things you do

I have learned that it's best to try to be real, no matter what. You can still strive to improve, but be real about the whole thing, don't force yourself into some kinda cookie cutter Seventh Heaven character. If your faith is real, then your expression of your experience on your faith journey is real.

I am a Christian, I will be living in heaven after this mess. I am far from perfect, but I have love and faith so I know I will be ok. I always have a reason for the hope that I have and am always willing to share it. I leave the rest up to God.

I pray a lot throughout the day. I have to remember that I am loved by the most important being in the universe. That helps when nothing else does. I don't listen to people who try to tell me that if I had more faith, I wouldn't be bp. That's a lie.
Keep up your faith, God is here to help you.
In Him,
Hope

I know that God knows the real me and forgives

amen vicky... way to put my rambling into one sentence. :o)

I love this thread, thank you for posting it. It is uplifting to see other Christians speaking out responsibly. Paul is said to have been afflicted with some form of mental illness so this idea that being ill is indicative of lack of faith is completely wrong.

Give it all to God, He knows what to do with it.

I know how you feel. Sorry I don't have any advice. I am having the same problem. I married a catholic! His mom and pretty much everyone from his church are pushing me to convert. I thought about it, but it wouldn't work out. I am far from a good catholic girl because of my problems. And I wouldn't feel right faking it.

Christianity is not about following rules. It is about experiencing a transformation of life, both outwardly and inwardly. If you really want to get technical and quote Scripture, you would see it is expected to take a lifetime, not happen all at once. And don't ever let ANYONE try to shove simplistic, black and white ideas about what is what down your throat about any religion. Faith is at its core a personal journey, and any healthy community of faith comes together to encourage and support that journey, not judge their fellow sojourners.

Jesus told me to Be Myself.
That was after Anti-Psychotics.
Lithium settled in later.

forgot to add that no one is beyond the reach of God's love and grace, nor the inner blessings of this life. This is a universal truth for all religions. Anyone who spouts hate, judgement and claims to be better than everyone else or hold the "real truth", whether they be Muslims, Christians or Druids are violating the core teachings of their own religion and should be avoided at all costs.

totally agree with BigHotMama.

i am Catholic, and the way i see it, from within my faith, is that Jesus said all the laws in the Bible can be subsumed in one precept - Love. this is what i feel i am commanded to do as a Christian, as a follower of Christ - to love. both myself & my neighbor - to practice compassion, forgiveness, grace. these are not easy, and i feel i can only true do them when i turn to Christ.

conversely, i find that as i turn to Christ, i come to know healing for myself through self-love & self-forgiveness. this is important - as you know, you cannot truly move another if you cannot love yourself. same goes for forgiveness, as well. Christ said "why take the more out of your brother's eye when there is log in yours?"

so, yeah - i would say as a BPII i feel part of path toward dealing with this disease is following Christ's teaching.

my outlook is, god has given "us" this diese because we are stronger then others. its a battle and without him, i would not be who i am. i also know that god will not give us more then we can handle. without that, i would have given up a long time ago!

All I really know about God is that he/she stands for love. Pure and simple. I have to remind myself of that.