James’ Story

Before I surrendered my life to Christ, I was lost. I was living for myself and material things that held no real value in life. I cared much more about how people viewed me than I actually cared about them. I recognized that there was a void in my life, something missing that was keeping me from true happiness. I tried to fill that void with things like popularity, reputation, self-image, and material things. But eventually I realized that wasn’t enough. I was still lost, and it seemed like no matter what I filled that void with, I was never really satisfied. So I continued to search.

I have believed in God for my whole life, and not once have I ever doubted his existence. My family and I went to church every Sunday and we prayed before meals. I thought I was a Christian. I believed in God, and I thought I was living the Christian life. I went to Sunday school, I knew bible stories, got confirmed, and I was involved in the Church. Overall, I thought I was a good person and that was enough for me.

In middle school, I started to live more for myself. I cared a lot more about popularity, friends, and girls. I wanted to fit in, and I would do whatever it took to achieve that goal. Looking back I was completely lost, but at the time I thought I was doing the right thing. I had a lot of friends, people liked me, and I was happy. Yeah, life was pretty good.

When I got to high school, I started to go to a youth group called Networks. My brother convinced me to go because they needed a worship band drummer, so I got involved and started playing in the band. I began to start hanging out with Christian friends, and doing more positive things. I now had a safe place to be where we could discuss spiritual things and what our faith looked like in our lives. Having a broad biblical knowledge, I had most of the answers to any questions people had, but I was not always applying those answers to my life.

Throughout my time in this youth group, I learned what it really meant to be a Christian. I had always heard that Jesus had died for my sins, but I never really knew what that meant. I was very sobering to learn that I deserved an eternity apart from God for the sins that I had committed. Even more humbling was the idea that Christ had taken that burden from me, and by dying on the cross he paid the debt of my sins so I could live in heaven with him for all eternity. To know that when I put my faith in Christ as the only provision for my sins, God would judge me based on the perfect life of Jesus, not the sinful life which I lived.

I don’t remember the exact point in time when I put my faith in Christ, but it was around my sophomore year in high school. From that point on, I know I have seen God work in my life and it has been amazing to see how he has shaped me.

But things have not always been easy, in fact towards the end of high school there were many rough points. Even though I had accepted Christ in my life, I started to drink and party because I still wanted to fit in with people. I knew that what I was doing was wrong, but I had this mentality that I had a long time to figure it out, and for now I could have fun. How wrong I was.

That lifestyle continued until I went to college at Madison. For the first time, I saw the party scene as an empty lifestyle where people were living for the pleasures of this world. I saw that people were lost, and that I didn’t want to be a part of that anymore. One night when I was drunk, I met a friend named Steve who invited me to come to his bible study. I was extremely excited to go, and was really excited to have other options besides the party scene. From that point on, I started going to bible study and Primetime (a weekly worship service), and I was now plugged into an amazing Christian community. I had tons of new friends that helped me to grow in my faith and they were always there for me when I needed them. Since then, I have grown more in my faith than ever before.

Even though I had accepted Christ in my life many years before, this was the first time I was really growing in my faith. Beforehand, I was trying to live the Christian life in my own strength instead of relying on God, and I was still giving in to the temptations of this world. I know that the fellowship I have with my friends here in Madison have had the greatest impact in my life to help me to know God more personally and experience his love. I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of something so awesome, and to be able to experience God’s infinite love on a daily basis.

So that is where I am right now, but things are far from perfect. I still mess up, and I am now more aware than ever of how broken I am in comparison to Christ. But with that increasing awareness, I am also much more aware of God’s love for me. One of my favorite bible verses is Joshua 1:9: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Living for Christ is definitely not easy, but I have more joy in my life than ever before. I know that God is always with me, and I look forward to the day when I will be with him in heaven.

 

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