Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?

If I am to train up new Christians, I would start with this verse from the Old Testament. Once you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior the tendencies are to get right into His teachings, Who He was, what He did, how He did it, why He did it, and to use that as a roadmap of service. That was one long run on sentence and being a new born Christian those early teachings can feel just like that, a long list of things to remember and to do.

Here with Micah is a valuable piece of information. “What does the Lord require of you?” What are His expectations of you? The answer was simple, clear and not overly burdensome.

Do justly. The exercise of sound judgement has to be measured and without irrational emotions. You can only exercise as much right judgement as you have proper understanding.

Love mercy. Lean towards mercy in judgement until you are fully grown and have developed discernment over more complicated matters. Do not be hasty.

Walk humbly with God. Walking with God is absolutely the most important aspect here. Humility may not be the easiest thing to accomplish in being a Christian. See yourself as a small child that only wants to take His hand, that the hand hold is more important than anything. It is more important than your surroundings, your path, or your destination.

If as a new Christian you can learn this lesson, get it right, make it a foundation for training, then all that follows will become easier.

Matthew 28:17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted.

Mark 16:14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

Luke 24:41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?

I copy for you here from the synoptic gospels a common thread. Once we have entered into a new life, the ability to doubt, to fear and be anxious remains. In a new born child we see only what we want from our own perspective. None of us remember how we felt when we were first born.

Being born again, being this new creation, comes with memories, habits, tendencies, and external relationships which influence us much more than when life first began. It is only natural to wonder about this new life and just exactly what has changed. Doubt is natural but it is not spiritual.

Jesus in those earliest of days of the born again will try and dissuade doubt, fear and anxiety. My rebirth came to me later in life and I have some memory of those first few days. I cannot say I believed for joy as indicated in Luke 24:41. I was amazed, I know that. Perhaps it was a form of joy I couldn’t express. My transformation was almost instant. It was an obvious change, so sudden and unexpected, it was obvious to everyone who knew me.

The fear, doubt and anxiety I had to deal with in those days were those of my children. I think my wife was more accepting but doubt probably lingered waiting to see if this change was permanent. It was not only permanent, change continued as I grew in Christ.

She had not yet learned to trust the new me.