Christian testimonies

Rachel
I recall that, although being involved in the Church from as long as I can remember and having read my Bible and said my prayers, spiritual things had no true personal meaning and were done out of habit.

However, in time I came to a point where I was in no doubt that there was more to Christianity than I thought. At times I would show real concern for my destination after death though for most of the time, Christian matters were put on hold and enjoying myself came first.

Whilst I was at Infant School, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and as a family this greatly changed our situation. God never once failed to look after our family through those difficult months and, seeing my mother so prepared for death, challenged me as to how prepared I was. There was a peace there that clearly came from her trust in God and this left a deep impression on me.

However, a few years later my security in life had increased again and I began to worry less about eternal issues. I continued to live this way until the end of December 1998. New Year resolutions were being made and I decided upon mine. I was determined that I would keep to it: this year I was really going to seek God.

I ensured that each day I would set aside time to study the Bible and pray. At first I felt no real difference to my life but after some weeks of persisting, God really began to speak to me through his word and I felt that I was being gradually drawn closer to him.

Like many, I can’t pinpoint a specific date or moment in which I was saved. However, I do know that a change has taken place in my life that no other could match up to.

In seeking him, God showed me my guilt and how I had offended him countless times through my various actions, words and thoughts. He helped me to realise that, on my own, there wasn’t anything that I could do to put things right. However, most importantly, he also revealed his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in a way that I had never quite seen him before. After living the perfect life that we could never live, Jesus had willingly suffered in agony on the cross. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans, ‘God demonstrates his own love towards us in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’