I wasn't the best person when I was in high school. I believed in God and people knew that I did, but I was always questioned because my actions did not show it. While I was in high school, I shared God's word maybe twice. I was too worried about partying and going out with friends to realize what I was really needing to do. I was too involved in worldly things that I didn't care what was happening.
I needed to change.
In high school, I did not care one bit about my grades or what I was involved in. My main worries were dance (I danced in high school), partying, hanging out with friends, I was so wrapped up in material things that I didn't even spend time with my family that much. I was wrapped up in drama all the time, it was something new each day. I held my nose in the air like I was the best thing around. But I wasn't, and I now realize that. I was so immature.
It was not until the end of my senior year that I realized that I needed to change, and it took something big to make me realize that. Very few people know what happened and why I decided I needed to change. So when I came to college, I decided to go to a small, private, christian college, I thought that I was changed. I came to this college thinking that I could just start loving God and everything would be fine. But whoa, was I wrong.
I felt lost, I felt like I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I didn't know how I was supposed to live for God. Sure, I gave up partying, but was it enough? I thought that this was going to be easy. Everyone always said to me that when you truly love God, you were going to feel like a new person. I didn't feel any different, but I thought that God was on the top of my list of priorities. But he wasn't. He might have been in the top five, maybe the top 10. But he was not in the number one spot where he should have been.
You see, without God being your number one priority, you do not have a firm foundation. It's like a stack of books, if you have the smallest book on the bottom, will it hold the bigger ones? No. That's how life is. If you do not have God and His word as your foundation then what is going to support the rest of your life?
I wanted to live in such a way that those who knew me but did not know God would come to know Him because they knew me.
I was immature and I never knew how much God could change his life until I decided to give it all to Him. I rededicated my life to Christ on October 12th, 2016. I was sitting at a Fields of Faith and I was feeling convicted. Something was pulling on my heart and I knew that it was God calling me. He was saying "This is it. You are not lost anymore." I knew that I was going to love Him with everything that I had and that I was going to live through Him for Him. He convicted me that night and I will never forget that feeling.
I cried tears of sadness because I knew that I was not living for Him and He still loved me. I was so ashamed with the way that I had been living. I cried tears of joy because He was there through everything that I went through, He was just waiting for the right time to pull me into Him.
In high school everyone knew me through my sin. They knew me through parties and through hanging out. But I wanted people to know me through my Savior! I wanted to be known for being a follower of God and nothing else!
Through God, I was fearfully and wonderfully made. I am the salt and the light of the world. I am complete. I am loved. I am worth delighting in. I am forgiven and redeemed. I am anointed and I have a purpose. I am beautiful. I am more than a conqueror. I am chosen, holy, and dearly loved. I am His handiwork. I am worth fighting for. I am set free. But most importantly, I am a new creation. I am all of this in God's eyes.
I believe all of this because I am a follower of God and nothing will ever change that. I know that when life gets tough, I have a God that is tougher. I made God my number one on my priority list. He is the foundation of my life. God has blessed me in so many ways and he will bless me in many more.
How amazing is it that God thinks all of those things about us? He loves us unconditionally. He will always be with us no matter what we go through. He is the greatest. God said "You do not have to worry about love. As long as I am existing, you will be loved." I will forever be blessed.
Being a Christian demands constant progression, not perfection.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
God has a plan for all of us. He pulled me into Him so I could live for Him. I will forever be grateful. I want everyone to realize that God did not bring us this far to just abandon us. He is ALWAYS going to be here. He will love us through everything that we do.
I am ready to show everyone that He is living through me and that I am always going to follow Him.
