Testimonials

[cebula_2005]

Share your faith! Tell us what you believe and why. Maybe this will help someone...

[cebula_2005]

Ok, here goes...(sorry it's so long. Note: I wrote this at least a year ago, so the writing may not be too sophisticated. Hopefully, though, the meaning is still clear.)

The Purpose Driven Life suggests that I write out my testimony of how I came to know Christ. It said to divide it into 4 points:
1. What my life was like before I met Jesus.
2. How I realized I needed Jesus.
3. How I committed my life to Jesus.
4. The difference Jesus has made in my life.

I don?t really remember a time when I didn?t know God existed. I mean, I was made aware of the Bible stories and Jesus at a very young age. Still, I don?t think I knew Him as well as I do now. I knew the stories, I knew the love, and I knew that we had to abstain from major sins. Only recently did I discover that I should truly live my life for Christ. Only recently did I realize that doing this meant more than just not doing the obvious wrongs: having sex out of wedlock, doing drugs, killing someone. It also means doing right. I must truly life my life for God by acting as a Christian should, thus showing people how great He is. I find that hard to do sometimes, and I know I fail often, but I also know He still loves me.
I have clinical depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. I?ve had them since I was about ten years old?at least, that?s when I was diagnosed and put on the pills. Because of this and the fact that children in school were very mean, I basically hated life and was often sad. Of course, puberty didn?t help. Even though, I knew God, I was sad. Instead of Him making me happy in the present, I thought, ?Yay, God is real, so that means when we die we can go to Heaven and really, finally be happy.? That gave me comfort and probably kept me from doing stupid things. I can still take comfort from that when the bad times come, as they will. But I also know now that he will give us strength to endure the bad days on earth. We can still be happy (or happier) here and now because ?And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who were called according to His purpose.? This means that ALL THINGS will work TOGETHER for our good. It does not mean that each individual thing will be great and joyous. Bad things can work together for our good, too. I know God is in control of both the good and the bad things, so He will keep me sane. He will always be with me. I still get overwhelmed by feelings of sadness sometimes, but the depression is not so constant anymore. I can look around at things and see God?s handiwork. Trees, flowers, my pet rat, all of them glorify God.
I didn?t have one moment when I suddenly realized I needed God. I felt I?ve always had Him, and this is true. Only recently, though, did I realize that I could have more. In growing closer to Him, I could prosper. When I was sixteen, I became addicted to the library. I went there at least once every two weeks and checked out books. Eventually, I started checking out Christian fiction books. While the people in these books aren?t real, I still learned from them. I think the books made me feel closer to God and I realized that I needed to do more. Now I read the Bible every day, and I actually enjoy it. Before, I read it out of duty and only once a week.
Now I?m trying to get involved in society because how can I witness if I don?t? Then, I shut myself in my room and read all day.
I was baptized when I was eleven years old. I said, ?I believe, with all my heart, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and I want Him to be, the Lord of my life.? I did believe with all my heart, and I did want God to rule in my life. I didn?t, however, really understand what having God rule in my life really meant. Now I realize that I must strive to be a better person?become more like Christ. I don?t always do a very good job, and I still don?t understand a lot of things, but I do know that the fundamental truths I learned as a child still ring true today. Jesus is God. The Trinity. Everything in the Bible is true. It?s all so beautiful and gives me so much HOPE. I feel that I am always loved. I know that I am safe in the Hands of God. I am not perfect; no Christian is. But you really shouldn?t hold our imperfections against God, for He is perfect in every way. We may not see it or understand it. I don?t, but I do know that.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 01, 2006 02:37 AM: Message edited by: Tra ]</font>

[cebula_2005]

Bump!

[cebula_2005]

Bump again.

[Emmalina]

That was so beautiful Tra, I was starting to get teary eyed. [img]graemlins/cry_smile.gif[/img] It is wonderful to know that we have such a wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who is with us, even through hard times, guiding us through.

Praise the Lord!

~Emma

[Marty Morningwood]

Thanks, Tra.

Great testimony