“Ignite, then, O my God, within my breast the fire of Thy love,…” ~ Baha’u’llah
For many Christians, their relationship with God has given them inspiration and strength throughout their lives. They have offered up prayers time and again during some of the darkest moments of their lives. They have often turned to their Lord as their truest Friend, their last Hope, their most understanding Love. For Christians, the name of this Love was Jesus, their Lord and personal savior. Jesus is the One who brought them out of the most challenging times of their lives, the One who saw them through. For these devoted souls, Jesus answered their prayers, Jesus walked with them in their lives, Jesus gave them wisdom, understanding, and peace.
A Baha’i would never want to take away from this precious relationship. Baha’is believe that a person’s life can be totally transformed through developing an intimate and personal relationship with God. In fact, Baha’is believe that this is the ultimate purpose of the entire creation: to know and love God. Therefore to live a full life, one must learn to see God in all things, to appreciate His Grandeur and Perfection, and to develop a loving relationship with Him. Through this process, we see His wisdom in all the events of our lives, and we learn to Trust Him with our personal faith. Baha’is believe that God wants to be loved by us. And they believe that all of us want to feel loved by Him.
Becoming a Baha’is does not have to take anything away from a Christians relationship with Jesus Christ. If fact, for many, becoming a Baha’i fulfills that relationship on many levels. Becoming a Baha’i takes this loving devotion of the followers of Jesus Christ and offers renewed levels of intensity, intimacy, understanding, and passion. The Baha’i Faith offers Christians a chance to accept Jesus, whose Divine Spirit has returned with a new Name, to truly build the Kingdom of God, and to truly unite with the followers of God from all flocks. The Baha’i Faith offers Christians a vast new wealth of the Word of God, revealed with the same Holy Spirit that came through Jesus that will inspire new heights of achievement in the arts and sciences.
Baha’is feel that their relationship with God is the foundation of their lives. Their personal prayer is best stated by Baha’u’llah when He wrote, “Ignite, then, O my God, within my breast the fire of Thy love, that its flame may burn up all else except my remembrance of Thee, that every trace of corrupt desire may be entirely mortified within me, and that naught may remain except the glorification of Thy transcendent and all-glorious Being. This is my highest aspiration, mine ardent desire, O Thou Who rulest all things, and in Whose hand is the kingdom of the entire creation. Thou, verily, doest what Thou choosest. No God is there beside Thee, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving.” (PM, p. 161)