What was life like before you met Jesus?
I grew up in a Christian household and was very involved starting in middle school. When I moved up to youth, many teachings were things that I could apply to my relationship with God. For so long, I wore the label of a Christian but did not live it out in obedience. I started to seek worldly love and thought that love had to be earned. This view of love also influenced my view of Jesus' love for me. But I desired the love of the world more than anything else. I wanted to be loved because I thought I wasn't loved when it wasn't earned. When someone wouldn't talk to me, or I didn't feel like I belonged, or felt lonely in a room full of people and so much more, I didn't feel loved. Nothing was enough. I was constantly restless and confused. I would fall more into sin just to earn the love of this world, and the more I fell into sin, the more I became too ashamed of it to give it to Jesus. I was a slave to sin and the love of the world.
How did you meet Jesus?
At the Salt Co. Fall Retreat, while learning about the life of David, my eyes opened to who Jesus is and what He did for me. I now understand that Jesus paid it all on the cross. I met with a Salt staff to talk about baptism so I could find more clarity. One thing that she said to me was that love from Jesus is given, not earned. That was a big revelation because, before Christ, all I ever did was try to earn love. I no longer had to continue searching for love from the world when I was already receiving a greater love from the Lord.
After being saved by Jesus, what is your life like now?
After placing my trust in Jesus, I walk in love, knowing that my identity is in Him alone. My heart is more open to the ways He reveals himself to me in situations when I am weary. Any time when I feel lonely, abandoned, judged, etc. I know that Jesus' love is constant, and that's what affirms and fills my needs. I know that nothing can separate me from His love. "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)