I had grown up relatively Agnostic most of my life until I

was 15 when my friend/neighbor Maria, asked me to join her

at a bible study at a Catholic Church. I attended and wound

up getting my Communion and Confirmation done. As I wound

up going to church more and more, I began to disagree with

more and more. What was so special about the priests? Why

could only THEY forgive our sins? What made going to

confession so special? Why was “Hail Mary” such an important

prayer when confessing? What makes the Pope so important

and closer to God than anyone else?…I had so many

questions and no answers. My interest in church began to

dwindle and dwindle as my life continued until I stopped

attending all together. During my later teen years, particularly

when I was 16, I sinned a lot, had a lot of problems with my

family, had suicidal thoughts, veered from God, and dipped

into a deep depression. At 17 as my future husband and I

began to date, I spoke a lot with an old friend who was a

missionary and Christian. He had a lot to say about Jesus

Christ and I was honestly rather hesistant to learn about it at

first. A few years before I was dissuaded from Christianity as

a whole because a girl I knew (who was a Christian) depicted

it negatively and made the entire “religion” seem conservative

and rather heartless.

   Anyway, as my missionary spoke to me

more about it and I became closer to my future husband,

topics regarding God and Chrisitianity gained more of my

curiosity. My boyfriend wound up inviting me to church with

him one day (he went to a Pentacostal Christian church) and

then lunch with his family. IT WAS SO DIFFERENT! I was so

used to people staying seated, mindlessly repeating prayers,

and cult-like church gatherings. At this new place people were

getting out of their seats dancing, singing, and the “Pastor”

took the role of teaching segments of the Bible. I was learning

a lot and I really enjoyed it.

After two more outings to the

church with my boyfriend he sat with me in my room

answered all the questions I had about God and told me

what it meant to be a Christian. How much God loves me,

how we are all given FREE-WILL out of the LOVE that God

has for us. But all that God asks in return is that we

accept him into our heart, acknowledge that HE died for

us, that we are not perfect but he forgives our sins, that

we cannot EARN our way into Heaven by being “good

people” but by using our FREE WILL that God has given us

to CHOOSE to accept God into our life…

We then prayed together and I became pretty much

born-again. My boyfriends mother bought me a Bible and I

spent hours upon hours reading and trying to learn how to

please God.

Honestly, Jesus Christ was the answer to everything in

my life. I had gone through a disasterous relationship my

Junior Year of High School that forced me to sin and

caused me a deep sense of inadequacy, I came from an

abusive home so I definitely had and still do have my

share of problems there, and at 17 I had lost all hope for

my life. Learning about Jesus knowing that I have a

loving, constant, and stable source of love and

protection, I have made Him the foundation for my life. I

can honestly say that my life is exponentially better

since I came to Christ and allowed him into my heart. I

love my life and I love God for giving me hope among

millions of other blessings he’s given me. Since then it’s

been a process and a wonderful journey <3

If you have any questions about my testimony or want to talk to me at all about anything, just ask! :)

Everyone has sinned and needs God’s forgiveness.

Romans 3:23: “All have sinned and fall short

of the glory of God.”

God’s forgiveness is available to ALL regardless of what

you’ve done or how you feel.

John 3:16: “God loved the world in this way:

He gave His One and Only Son, so that

everyone who believes in Him will not perish

but have eternal life.”

God’s forgiveness is DEFINITELY available to you but it’s

not automatic

Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone who says to

Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of

heaven.”

According to the Bible, it is IMPOSSIBLE to earn our way

into Heaven (e.g. being a “good” person)

Ephesians 2:8-9: “By grace you are saved

through faith, and this is not from

yourselves; it is God’s gift - not from works,

so that no one can boast.

So how can a person have eternal life and enter Heaven?

By repenting and turning away from sin. By turning to

Jesus alone as your Savior.

Luke 13:3: “Unless you repent, you will all

perish as well!”

John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the

life. No one comes to the Father except

through Me.”

Here is the greatest news of all:.

Romans 10:9-10: “If you confess with your

mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your

heart that God raised Him from the dead, you

will be saved. With the heart one believes,

resulting in righteousness, and with the

mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.”

How can a person have God’s forgiveness, eternal life,

and heaven? By trusting Jesus as your Savior and Lord.

By praying and asking Jesus to forgive you of your sins

and by inviting Jesus into your heart.

<3

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