My life before Christ revolved around my reputation and filling my brokenness with a false confidence in my image and the way others viewed me. I desired to be liked, and accepted in the environments in which I spent most of my time in. This led me to idolize earthly pursuits, ones that were not strengthening my relationship with God. Superficially, it was working. But, deep down, the brokenness was still present in my life, and it hurt. As I tried to conceal my pain, I realized God’s presence in my life and how powerful God’s love is. God has changed the course of my life and has allowed me to live with a new hope. I want to share with you my story of how I came to know Jesus.

I was raised in a Christian home, but I didn’t know God personally. I liked the idea that I could look and act like a Christian on the outside, but that I could still choose what I wanted to do in my life. I was influenced a lot by the world, and made a lot of decisions based off of what was acceptable with society and not what was acceptable with God. I lived for myself, and wanted to find my identity and pleasure in the things and ideas the world was offering.

I kept living how I wanted to, and was afraid to let go of this lifestyle. I was stuck in this uneasy state in which I was living the way of the world, but not finding fulfillment in it. Ultimately, I was lost. I didn’t know my worth, and I didn’t know what to do. That’s when I turned to God’s love and compassion for me. God was there with me the whole time, loving me when I was broken, I just hadn’t been listening to Him.

Giving myself to Christ and fully submitting to Him has changed my life drastically. There has been change that I never thought would come, and I’ve eliminated dark areas of my life that I had been living with previously. Storing my worth and my faith in God has allowed me to experience peace in my life. Peace that my life belongs to God and that assures me that when I fail, God will carry me through and allow me to grow from my failures. Understanding God’s love for me has opened my eyes to the goodness of God and His overwhelming grace, even though I’m broken. I don’t have to worry about pleasing the world anymore, I have found that the only audience I want to please is an audience of one….. Jesus Christ.

I want to close with a bible verse that speaks life into me. John 16:33 “ These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” I love this verse because it’s saying that you should not worry about any problem that you stumble upon in your life, for Christ has overcome it and He has given you the opportunity to find peace in Him for that reason!