Being born in a Christian country? No.
Having been baptised and/or confirmed? No, no matter at what age this happens.
Having parents who always went to church? No.
Being brought up in a Christian home? No.
Doing good, helping others? No, that doesn't make you a Christian either.
Believing that there is a God? No.
Reading the Bible and praying? Even doing things like this, whilst they can be helpful, does not in itself make anyone a Christian.
Many people think they are Christians, but they rarely bother about Jesus Christ.
When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus surprised many of those present by quoting a lesser-known Old Testament statement. He said, “‘You shall love The LORD* your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment and the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’” (* See note here on the name of the God of the Bible.)
Notice He didn’t mention not committing murder, theft, lying or any of the other bad things we usually put at the top of the don’t-do list! Neither did He mention anything like going to church or keeping special days every year. Instead He said the most important thing is that we love The LORD our God with everything we are. That may sound simple, but it’s impossible for any of us to do this without God’s help.
You may be wondering what makes the God of the Bible worthy of us being devoted to Him in this way. To explain that, we need to start at the very beginning...
Next: In the beginning