Christian testimonies

Laura
I was brought up in a Christian home and never doubted that the Bible was true and, when affected by the sermons that I heard, I would pray for forgiveness. However, I never really meant what I was saying because the next day I would live solely to please myself and had no real concern that I was offending God.

Although I knew that those who didn’t trust in Jesus would one day die and go to Hell, I never really believed that it would happen to me. Somehow I thought that because I went to Church and had Christian parents, I would be all right. I also thought that I could become a Christian when I was older and that I shouldn’t worry about it whilst I was young. But, if I were honest with myself, I knew that this wasn’t true. I just didn’t want to admit it.

However, one Sunday evening when I was thirteen, I was sitting in Church and instead of distracting myself and not listening to the service, I began to listen carefully to what was being preached. This was something that I had not done for a long time. The sermon was on Jesus when he was crucified. Although I’d heard the story many times before, this time the Lord really spoke to me and it was as if for the first time I heard the news of Jesus Christ. I was amazed that the infinite God should love this finite and sinful creation so much that he was willing to send his Son to suffer the agonies of the cross to save sinners such as me.

I went home that night and cried to God for forgiveness. Although I knew that I had done nothing to deserve forgiveness, God promises in his word that anyone who comes to him will be saved. As it says in Matthew, Chapter 11, ‘Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.’

Although I had no real intention of coming to Christ, that night he came and met me. He brought me to realise the severity of my sins and how my need for a saviour was. Although I had rebelled against God’s commands and turned my back on him and went my own way, the Lord in his love and mercy bought me to see how great his love for sinners is and how willing he is to save.

Now I realise that Life is meaningless without Christ and that he alone can satisfy our needs. He has purchased me with his own blood so that I can now say that I am his and he is mine. In the words of the hymn writer, ‘Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.’