I grew up in a family that did not know Christ. At the age of 10, my mother started taking my brother and me to a local church in hopes that the church would teach us to become moral people. While I was involved with AWANA, a children’s ministry, I was first exposed to Old Testament stories of the Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:23 and 6:23 were two the first few verses I was asked to memorize. During that time neither the Gospel nor the verses I had memorized had any significant meaning to me.
During the next couple years, I continued attending the church with my family and continued learning more about the Bible and who Christ really was. The Bible told me that I was a sinner (Romans 3:23) and because of that I deserved death (Romans 6:23). But God sent a Savior, Jesus Christ, to take up my sins and the sins of the world. And instead of my deserved death, Christ died on the cross for my sins and if I confess Christ to be Lord of my life, I would be given the gift of eternal life. I understood this in my head but at the time I didn’t believe it in my heart. I don’t think that I really understood what it meant to acknowledge that I was a sinner. During the years I was in Junior High School I continued to live a life disobedient to Christ. I dealt with a lot of internal hatred towards some of my peers and I developed an untrusting and guarded attitude towards others. At the same time I was also consumed by a desire to be popular and accepted among my friends. My friends and I had even resorted to stealing to stay in tune with the current trends and culture. Maintaining popularity and being looked up upon became my God. I had even allowed it to put a strain on my relationship with my parents if they got in the way of that. While I was growing a better understanding of the Bible and who God was, the God of the Bible was not my god.
In any case, I continued attending church and learning more about God and His Word. It wasn’t until the age of 15 did God open my eyes to my sin. For the first time, the head knowledge of the Gospel became real to me. I began to recognize my own sinfulness and that I could not, out of my own will, keep myself from sinning. I saw that I was plagued with pride, selfishness, anger, and jealously towards others. Sorrow for my sins fell over me and I truly acknowledged my need for Christ. At that moment a deep sense of gratitude, over Christ’s death on the cross for my sins, consumed me.
Since knowing Christ, my perspective in life and how I viewed people completely changed. God slowly chipped away at the unloving feelings I had developed towards peers and even family. I began to genuinely love the people God placed in my life. The journey as a Christian, though, has not been an easy one. I continue to struggle with sin and am reminded daily that I need to constantly rely on God for wisdom, discernment and strength to overcome them. While living in the world, I desire to pursue a life that is not of the world. Following Christ often times meant that I did not give my desires to pursuing the worldly culture around me. In fact, it called me to be very different from some of my friends, colleagues and co-workers. But God has given me the strength to stand firm in my convictions as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ to pursue Him and His glory first in all things.
During the next couple years, I continued attending the church with my family and continued learning more about the Bible and who Christ really was. The Bible told me that I was a sinner (Romans 3:23) and because of that I deserved death (Romans 6:23). But God sent a Savior, Jesus Christ, to take up my sins and the sins of the world. And instead of my deserved death, Christ died on the cross for my sins and if I confess Christ to be Lord of my life, I would be given the gift of eternal life. I understood this in my head but at the time I didn’t believe it in my heart. I don’t think that I really understood what it meant to acknowledge that I was a sinner. During the years I was in Junior High School I continued to live a life disobedient to Christ. I dealt with a lot of internal hatred towards some of my peers and I developed an untrusting and guarded attitude towards others. At the same time I was also consumed by a desire to be popular and accepted among my friends. My friends and I had even resorted to stealing to stay in tune with the current trends and culture. Maintaining popularity and being looked up upon became my God. I had even allowed it to put a strain on my relationship with my parents if they got in the way of that. While I was growing a better understanding of the Bible and who God was, the God of the Bible was not my god.
In any case, I continued attending church and learning more about God and His Word. It wasn’t until the age of 15 did God open my eyes to my sin. For the first time, the head knowledge of the Gospel became real to me. I began to recognize my own sinfulness and that I could not, out of my own will, keep myself from sinning. I saw that I was plagued with pride, selfishness, anger, and jealously towards others. Sorrow for my sins fell over me and I truly acknowledged my need for Christ. At that moment a deep sense of gratitude, over Christ’s death on the cross for my sins, consumed me.
Since knowing Christ, my perspective in life and how I viewed people completely changed. God slowly chipped away at the unloving feelings I had developed towards peers and even family. I began to genuinely love the people God placed in my life. The journey as a Christian, though, has not been an easy one. I continue to struggle with sin and am reminded daily that I need to constantly rely on God for wisdom, discernment and strength to overcome them. While living in the world, I desire to pursue a life that is not of the world. Following Christ often times meant that I did not give my desires to pursuing the worldly culture around me. In fact, it called me to be very different from some of my friends, colleagues and co-workers. But God has given me the strength to stand firm in my convictions as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ to pursue Him and His glory first in all things.