Before Jesus Changed My Life

I knew of God, but it wasn’t until the last couple of years that I realized the weight of my sin. I tried to fill the void with fulfillment from the relationship I was in, focusing on money, acquiring material things, and working every extra second I could. I felt like I could work my way to happiness. The more successful my life becomes, the more fulfilled I will be. Yet, I had everything I could ever need materialistically, but I still felt empty. I had the relationship, I played Division 1 soccer, I wasn’t struggling financially, and I knew in my heart I was still not satisfied.

How Jesus Changed My Life

My mom remarrying my stepdad Dwain played a huge part in bringing us into situations and experiences where God could work on my heart. The first time I went to church camp when I was in 7th grade, I accepted Christ into my heart. Over the next few years, I learned more about God, going on mission trips to Guatemala, and loving the Lord. However, it wasn’t until about three years ago that I began to realize the weight of my sin. Before I was just spreading the love of God, saying Jesus loves you no matter what, but failing to recognize or mention the wedge and the way that sin pulls you away from God and His plan for you. It wasn't a quick change where something specific happened where I realized the heaviness of my sin, it was feeling that small voice that started to point out the ways of the world that were weighing me down. I started to actually hear the words of the secular music I was listening to and found myself unable to enjoy it in the same way. I started to shrink my circle. I started to pull away from the sin in my past relationship. I started to question my desire for a glamorous life that the whole world already seemed to have. I started praying for God to remove the relationship I was in if it wasn’t glorifying Him. After 4.5 years, while our families were thinking we would end up married, God ended the relationship out of nowhere. I knew it was a blessing, but it was also a very difficult time for me. I was leaving everything I thought I wanted behind. However, I knew God was doing this for my own good. I leaned into God and let Him carry me through these times. I now fully believe the gospel, which is the good news that Jesus died for our sins, and nothing we do can change the mercy and grace we’ve freely been given. Once we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are saved.

Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Jesus was the Word, the light that outshone darkness. Jesus was the Word, because He was all that God wanted us to tell about. (John 1:1-5)

My Life After Jesus Saved Me

Since then I have really been focusing on growing my relationship with God and getting to know Him better so that I can better serve Him and spread the gospel. I started to be bold in my faith over the last year or so, praying for patients in some of their darkest times, sharing my faith and how Jesus had changed me, bringing Jesus into conversations with strangers and gaining a peace this world could never give. I still struggle with giving up control a lot of times, but there is so much more contentment and joy in my heart since I’ve let God work more and more in my life. The peace of knowing that my future is not in my hands, but in the One who created it all, is beyond anything that I could ever deserve.