Before Jesus Changed My Life
Before I accepted Christ, I lived my life for me. I could never find happiness. I was the class clown or the guy who partied all the time and tried to find happiness out of a bottle. This continued and spread into my marriage. I would try to get satisfaction and joy from my wife, and it didn’t make things very fair for her because when she couldn’t bring me the happiness and joy that I was looking for, I would end up angry and bitter. Anger was an issue, and anger can still be an issue if I let the devil in. I just couldn’t ever find what I was looking for. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
Fulfillment can only be found in Christ, but I just wasn’t there yet. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Meaning, if I would delight myself in God, my heart would be satisfied with God. I believe what I was running into was guilt. I was raised in a Christian home with good parents who planted the seed. We would attend church and Sunday school every Sunday, and they also sent me to a Christian school. I knew of God, but I didn’t know God. I would go to church on Sundays, but then I would live for my own desires the rest of the week. It was a very empty life. James 2:14 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” I never created a relationship with the Lord, and with that, my life was dead.
How Jesus Changed My Life
In September 2020, my son and I had an accident. While he was in the hospital, I was praying and talking to God like I never left his side. I trusted him even though I had been living my own life and not for Christ. I knew enough to always trust him, no matter the outcome. I knew enough that I was nothing to second-guess God. As my son was recovering and eventually made a full recovery, I knew that God had big plans for him. Although my life didn’t change overnight and is still a work in progress, he used my son to bring me to salvation. When our son moved out of our house to college, he began attending Veritas. As a family, we attended with him a few times. It was there that I learned that God wasn’t a one-day-a-week plan for eternity. It was there that I learned that I wasn’t the man that God designed me to be. It was there that I learned that God created me for his glory and not mine. I’ve learned that not only is it unfair, but I don’t need to try to find joy in my wife, my friends, or material things, because they will never fulfill my void. God‘s love will, and God proved that when he sent his son to die for me. What a magnificent kind of love, and I am so grateful for his second chance. Jesus went to the cross to save me from my sin and death. He was resurrected on the third day to be seated at the right hand of God, promising us who believe to one day join Him there. Through God's grace he has given me new life in Him. Romans 10-9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” The gospel is the good news. The good news is that God sent his son Jesus to save us from sin. John 3:16 is probably one of the most well known verses of the bible, it says that For God so loves the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Nothing sums the gospel up better than his word..
My Life After Jesus Saved Me
After placing my faith in Jesus, I think of him in almost every scenario. Yes, I will always sin and fall short of the glory of God, but now I desire to know him and just be close to him. He has brought me real, authentic joy, so much more than anything on this earth could ever begin to do. I’ve started treating my wife with the respect and honor that God has designed me to do. I am now slower to anger and think of God before I get angry. I love my family and friends more deeply. I look forward to Sundays, it has become one of my favorite days of the week. I worship God all week, and I get fellowship on Sundays. This is a day that I used to dislike. I would always try to find a reason to skip church, but now God has lit a fire in me, a desire to know him. It’s a love that I could never describe. I thank him often for his plan and for putting people in my life to bring me closer to eternal life with him. All is for his glory.