Just because you were brought up in the church does not make you a Christian or a New Church person.

But the recognition of sin is useless, unless a person examines what he does in his life, and observes whether he did such a thing in secret or openly. For up to this point all that is mere knowledge; and then the arguments of the preacher are merely a noise in the left ear, which goes through to the right ear and so out. Finally it becomes no more than a thought, a piety on the part of the lungs, in many cases mere imagination and a chimera. But it is quite the reverse, if a person, recognising what is a sin, examines himself, finds one in himself and says to himself, ‘This evil is a sin,’ and fearing everlasting punishment abstains from it. Then for the first time the preacher’s teaching and oratory in church is taken in with both ears and reaches the heart, so that he turns from being a pagan into a Christian.

TCR 525

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Our Destiny

. . . the Lord perpetually wills man to receive truth and do good, thus becoming spiritual, the destiny for which he was born.

TCR 481, Chadwick

Teaching others

Many people believe that people are born good, and if we can just create a positive environment and provide the right education we will have good people. Unfortunately, the Lord reveals to us that we are born with an inclination towards evil. We must learn what evil is, search for in our hearts and minds, and shun it as a sin against the Lord, and then we can do good.

A surprising consequence of this is a truth well know in heaven, but so well known here:

For it is one of the facts which are well known in heaven that wicked ideas can be breathed into good people, but not good ideas into wicked people. The reason is that everyone is by birth pervaded by evils.

TCR 448