My Testimony

So today my family joined our church, we had to give our testimonies to the congregation so I thought I would share mine with you as well. Feel free to comment yours :) 

At the age of 5 I prayed the prayer asking Jesus to forgive my sins and come into my heart. I knew I was a sinner and Jesus dying on the cross paid the price for my sin. I didn't truly understand that by me putting my faith in His sacrificial death,my debt was paid and by rising from the grave death and sin were conquered once and for all and I was now viewed as righteous in the eyes of God. I didn't come to understand this until around the age of 10. At the age of 11 I made my faith known through baptism. Once I entered sixth grade I really started to grow in my understanding of the Bible and knowledge of who God is.Through a program that my youth group offered called Servant Leadership I realized how Christianity is about a relationship and not a religion. I understood that it's not about what I have done it's about what He did for me on the cross.  I continued to grow in my walk with The Lord through bible studies, and various small  groups geared towards teaching teens how to be a light through living out the character of Christ. In the fall of 2012 my church split. The year and half that has passed since the split has without a doubt been the most trying time in my life. After the church split I really struggled with a lot of things, but through the trials I held onto the knowledge that my God loves me and has better plans for me.  One of the most important lessons I learned from this was people are going to fail me, it's inevitable but God will not. Even when it feel like He is not around I have to know that in His word he promises to never leave me. God has shown me that He is all that I need to get through life. If I have Him I have everything.  Through this trial God has taught me more about His character than I ever could have imagined I could learn from one situation. I understand that the God of the universe who brought the dead to life loves me in my selfish state and calls me His child and friend. While I will be unfaithful to Him and place idols in front of Him, He still will remain faithful to me and He still wants to use me. It is my desire and prayer to be used by God to further His heavenly kingdom in whatever way He sees fit for me. I know it may not be pleasant but I know that if He is with me and if it is His plan then it's good and I want to be apart of it.