I was blessed to grow up in Grace Community Church my whole life and to have two very faithful Christian parents. I remember kneeling with my dad and praying to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior and to come into my heart at a young age. My parents were instrumental in nurturing this very basic belief in Christ and what it meant to be a Christian into a lifestyle. They enrolled me in Christian schools, signed me up for a myriad of church activities and groups, and taught me at home by going through workbooks or having devotions together. I knew what the Christian life looked like, but God would be faithful as I grew older to expose the pride in my life and the other areas I wasn’t fully surrendering to Him.
In my later years of high school, God drew me closer to Him by reminding me of His sufficiency and rooting out a lot of the pride I had found in myself and my own accomplishments. I was living a moral life that couldn’t be faulted outwardly, but inwardly I didn’t have the complete intimacy with Him that a child of Christ should have with their Creator. I believed the truths of John 3:16—a verse I knew from when I was very young—“for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” I knew that Christ had died on the Cross to save me from my sin and that because of His sacrifice—I would live in fellowship with Him forever in Heaven rather than face an eternity of pain and devastation in Hell as I justly deserved, but I wasn’t allowing these truths to saturate my daily life. I was finding a lot of my self-worth in doing really well at school, being the best on my sports teams, and having a lot of friends. These things were my main priority and I found myself always trying to fit Christ into my life, rather than centering my life around Him. I wasn’t living out Philippians 3:8 where Paul says to “count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Thankfully, God was faithful to discipline me and bring circumstances into my life to remind me of this truth. Through being injured and unable to compete in sports my sophomore year of high school to the strong, biblical teaching I was getting at my church—I was able to realize the joy of Jesus’ command in Matthew 6 of storing up lasting treasure in Heaven rather than wasting my time storing up temporal treasure on earth. Giving God complete ownership over my life and putting Him at its center is the greatest decision anyone could ever make and I never have regretted it for a second.
I am so thankful that God used my parents as tools to lead me to Him at a young age and then for His faithfulness in shaping that belief into a growing relationship with Him as my Lord and Savior. I am still amazed at the immense love He has for me and that He was willing to die on a cross to save me from my sins, and not only that, but He wants to have a personal relationship with me as well!! He is not only my Savior and Creator, but my comforter and friend. He is “intimately acquainted with all my ways—even before there is a word on my tongue…[He] knows it all” as it says in Psalm 139. He knows me better than I know myself and wants me to live a life built around glorifying Him which is the most rewarding and satisfying life possible. Building my life around Him and fighting against the temptation to put other things first is a daily struggle, but I know that I am no longer a slave to sin, but am under His grace and that He is there to help me every step of the way. I strive to live for Him and in the hope of my future in Heaven with Him for eternity and I want to live my life helping others realize the wonderful privilege and satisfaction of a relationship and life lived in Him.
In my later years of high school, God drew me closer to Him by reminding me of His sufficiency and rooting out a lot of the pride I had found in myself and my own accomplishments. I was living a moral life that couldn’t be faulted outwardly, but inwardly I didn’t have the complete intimacy with Him that a child of Christ should have with their Creator. I believed the truths of John 3:16—a verse I knew from when I was very young—“for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” I knew that Christ had died on the Cross to save me from my sin and that because of His sacrifice—I would live in fellowship with Him forever in Heaven rather than face an eternity of pain and devastation in Hell as I justly deserved, but I wasn’t allowing these truths to saturate my daily life. I was finding a lot of my self-worth in doing really well at school, being the best on my sports teams, and having a lot of friends. These things were my main priority and I found myself always trying to fit Christ into my life, rather than centering my life around Him. I wasn’t living out Philippians 3:8 where Paul says to “count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Thankfully, God was faithful to discipline me and bring circumstances into my life to remind me of this truth. Through being injured and unable to compete in sports my sophomore year of high school to the strong, biblical teaching I was getting at my church—I was able to realize the joy of Jesus’ command in Matthew 6 of storing up lasting treasure in Heaven rather than wasting my time storing up temporal treasure on earth. Giving God complete ownership over my life and putting Him at its center is the greatest decision anyone could ever make and I never have regretted it for a second.
I am so thankful that God used my parents as tools to lead me to Him at a young age and then for His faithfulness in shaping that belief into a growing relationship with Him as my Lord and Savior. I am still amazed at the immense love He has for me and that He was willing to die on a cross to save me from my sins, and not only that, but He wants to have a personal relationship with me as well!! He is not only my Savior and Creator, but my comforter and friend. He is “intimately acquainted with all my ways—even before there is a word on my tongue…[He] knows it all” as it says in Psalm 139. He knows me better than I know myself and wants me to live a life built around glorifying Him which is the most rewarding and satisfying life possible. Building my life around Him and fighting against the temptation to put other things first is a daily struggle, but I know that I am no longer a slave to sin, but am under His grace and that He is there to help me every step of the way. I strive to live for Him and in the hope of my future in Heaven with Him for eternity and I want to live my life helping others realize the wonderful privilege and satisfaction of a relationship and life lived in Him.