Mike's Testimony: Returning to Grace

I grew up in a faithful Christian home. My grandfather was a Baptist minister and my father was a deacon in the church where his father once preached. God, faith, and church were central to our family, and so when, at the age of seven, I asked God to forgive me and save my own soul, it was no big deal. That was the expected outcome.

However, as I grew, my faith did not. In high school I was more concerned with fitting in with my classmates than with standing out for Christ. When I joined the Navy, I started off with the intent of living a life of testimony, but I had not prepared myself and, before long, I was conducting myself in a manner that was indistinguishable from those around me. At one point, feeling the gentle tug of the Holy Spirit on me, I started attending a Navigators bible study, but I wanted it both ways. I'd spend an hour with the small group studying the Word, and then I'd meet my friends at whatever party was taking place that night.

One day, feeling the conflict of trying to live both in the Word and in the world, I told God that I wanted to see what I'd been missing. I chose the world, and I flung myself headfirst into that decision.

Fast-forward twenty years of conflicted living. I finally found myself in a church environment that preached the Word in such a way as to challenge me as a Christian rather than allow me to hide in the back pew. Uncompromising Bible teaching has made the difference, and after nearly thirty years as a Christian, God's love for me has taken on real meaning.

I've become active in my church and, more importantly, I'm taking the bread that God gives me and I'm giving it to others. I've been privileged enough to be part of a ministry that brings the Gospel into prisons.

The thing I've come to realize is that, it's not important how one lived before they became a Christian that constitutes their testimony; it's how we live after we become Christians that matters.

I'm still a long way from where I need to be, and I hope to never be fully satisfied with my spiritual growth, but always wanting more. I have learned, however, that it is impossible to live as a Christian without constantly taking in the Word, and when I have denied myself that sustaining bread, I have invariably erred. If you are a Christian and you find yourself getting farther off the narrow path in your walk, as I had for many years, get yourself into a church where they teach the Bible and where faithful fellowship can be found. With those two essentials, you'll want to do more with your relationship with Christ.

I've come to realize that no matter what our background, no matter where we came from, no matter what we did before the moment of our salvation, just one thing matters: we're all sinners, and we all need God's grace.

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