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I didn’t grow up in the church at all. I knew of Jesus Christ but I didn’t know Him for myself. Therefore, I lived my life in the world, I was smoking, drinking, having sex, partying, etc etc. What I didn’t know is that sin leads you down a path of destruction. I was seeking these things to fill voids in me that only God could fill. I got to the point where I was maxed out from sin, I was depressed, contemplating suicide. Without any other options left, I called on the name of Jesus. I had an encounter with Him, and He told me He loved me and wanted me to come back to Him. From there I decided to seek Him. Everyday, I began to pray and read the Word, and my mind began to be renewed and I started to have a peace that surpasses all understanding. As God started working in my heart, the desire for sin started to shed off. Smoking was no longer fulfilling for me, drinking was no longer fulfilling me. I began to find my worth in Christ, so I no longer settled for giving my body away through sex before a man was willing to marry me. The transformation I experience changed my values. I think my experience coming to the knowledge of Christ goes against stereotypes. Many people either see Christianity as legalistic or the other extreme of hypergrace. In other words, people see it as religious people yelling at you saying you can’t do this or do that. Others, think because Jesus died for your sins, that you can do whatever you want which essentially is abusing grace. These stereotypes can make one miss the true gospel of Jesus Christ. My story is stereotype breaking. Because for me, I was not bombarded with legalism; when I encountered Christ, He dealt with my heart first and loved on me. But because of His Word penetrating my heart, my values changed; therefore, my actions did change. Before I knew it, I desired the things that Christ desired for me.
Touching post Jillian! Thank you for sharing – you explained this clearly because often times, you only see older people in church and they say to stop all of your evil ways and it seems difficult to “live”. You also see those that just “LIVE FOR SUNDAY” and sin the rest of the week – it’s hard to find a balance or even see an example of the balance. Thank you for sharing – I can only imagine that your presence and shine goes a long way to inspiring others.
AMEN! Love your transformation. Have a similar story but as for me, I was raised in Church my whole life but never got really close to him until this year. As a kid till now, I never missed church service but later realized church is not only the lead to heaven but rather relationship you have with him. As we TRUST AND OBEY HIS commands, we are safe. ALSO, HE IS REAL and LOVING.
Wow, what a moving and beautiful post. Thank you for sharing your journey and love for Christ. Many young people are turned off of religion because they see it as restricting them from having fun, not realizing that what some may consider fun may be full of sin. It is important to have a spiritual relationship with Christ and I admire you and your walk!
Wow! This is really touching. I can definitely relate to this. Growing up, I was always in the church because of my parents and grandparents, but as i got older, and went to college, I slowly drifted away from God. I had a carefree mindset and started dealing with a lot of stressful things. Finally i decided to get my life right with God and focus on what was important. Since then, I have noticed better things happening for me in many ways. Great post!
This is such an amazing post and I am so happy for you and the transformation you have gone through. I also did not grow up in the church at all and my parents were never very religious. I went through many hard times and decided to join a church and change the way I lived my life and it was a life changing decision. Im glad you were able to realize you needed change and were able to change your values and actions for the better!
Beautiful post. I’m glad that through Christ you were able to turn your life around and it was through your personal relationship with him. It’s very motivational.
This was absolutely amazing! I’m proud of your growth. It takes a lot for people to make changes from what they’re use to and talking to the man above is always best in my eyes. I know others with similar situations therefore I understand the daily diligence that it took. Continue to stay on the right path.
This post was very inspirational. It really made me think about my life and what I could do to better it. I also believe that several sins could lead to self destruction. Although I don’t feel the way you did, I still hope to have a personal encounter with God, that would make me feel closer to him.