Before Jesus Changed My Life

I grew up in a Catholic household and attended church when I was young, but we grew busier and stopped attending. Before Jesus changed my life, I turned to others around me to solve my conflicts in life. I was searching for relationships and searching for love. I got involved in the wrong crowd who spent their time partying or committing acts of adultery. I thought this would give me friends, a relationship full of love, and things would get better as life went on. I fell under the influence of a sinful life because I did not know Jesus.

How Jesus Changed My Life

In my senior year of high school, my mom told me about this Christian church she had visited recently and offered for me to come next time. I knew about church but I didn’t know the gospel and didn’t apply it to my life. I took this opportunity, and when I heard the sermon, something in my heart urged me to know more. The first sermon I heard was so relatable to what I was currently going through in life. I kept attending church regularly and eventually engraved Philippians 4:13 in my softball glove. I had grown so close to Jesus that I wanted to be reminded of him in important parts of my day. College rolled around this fall, and a classmate had mentioned SALT to me. I attended SALT on Thursdays, connection groups, and then the fall retreat. During the fall retreat, I confessed sin and my faith was as strong as ever. I connected with others who gave their life to Christ and realized my identity through Christ. After the retreat, I wanted to repent of sins like never before because it made me think about the price Jesus paid for us. I had found a new community to surround myself with. We deserved to die for our sins, but instead, God sent his son Jesus to save us from our sins. Jesus was nailed to the cross for our sins out of his love for us. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me (Galatians 2:20) We become children of God and ambassadors for Christ.

My Life After Jesus Saved Me

I find myself turning to Christ in times of confusion or not knowing. I want to read my Bible and sin has lost its appeal. I was told a saying about spirituality, "If you have been born only once, you will have to die twice. But if you have been born twice, you will have to die only once." This quote sticks in my brain when I think about the Gospel. I believe that Jesus is my Lord and Savior and I have been born twice through him and will only die once. I know now that there is eternal life because Jesus died the death we all deserved, and without him, we would all surely die twice.