What was life like before you met Jesus?
I grew up Catholic and went to church every now and again, with this being said though I had no relationship with Christ. Going to church was just something we did and that was it, nothing more outside of it. This led to me struggling some with my identity, confidence, worry a lot, and living a life with a greater purpose than just myself. I found myself trying to make up for these shortcomings in actions.
How did you meet Jesus?
I always knew about God and prayed and prayed that I would give my life to him throughout my life but the first time I fully put my faith in Him was my senior year of high school. It was a few days after I found out I tore my ACL my senior year of high school. I remember feeling so lost and not knowing what I was going to do. One night it felt like I had the weight of the whole world on my shoulders, so I called my girlfriend and she came over and we talked about it and prayed that my situation was in God's hand and I had nothing to worry about. After praying and talking it over I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Two verses I leaned heavily on were 1 Peter 5:7, "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." and Romans 8:28, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." The experience I had that night, from feeling at absolute rock bottom to feeling all that weight lifted off my shoulder, put me on a path to get to know Jesus and forge a relationship with him. Being told that God cares for me and looks after me, and know that The gospel verse that has been extremely powerful for me is Ephesians 2:8-10. This speaks to me because it reinforces that my salvation is not because of something I did but because of what Jesus did on the cross for me and that there is nothing that I can do to earn it.
After being saved by Jesus, what is your life like now?
Now that I have met Christ and have a relationship with Him I live a much more fulfilling life knowing that I'm getting to live it for Him. As I've continued to grow in my faith I find myself leaning on him more and more, like Proverbs 3:5 says not to trust in my own understanding but to trust in the Lord. Doing this has helped me have more confidence and worry less, and having an identity in Christ gives a greater purpose to my life. Living my life now, knowing that I have been saved and that I now get to live a life for Jesus is one of the most freeing experiences I have had. I know that now I don't need to worry or question my purpose anymore because God has that all planned for me. Romans 3:23-24 says "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins." This passage reminds me that I will mess up and that there is nothing I can do to earn my salvation, but it also reminds me I do have salvation through the free gift of God, that was made available to me through the finished work of Christ. This is the fire that fuels my life now and I wouldn't want to live any other way.