I believe we all have something to say...a story to tell...a testimony. And I believe that each person's testimony can help someone else in some way. It's a witness to the world to know that we are human and go through things just like them but that we have a source of strength, of comfort, of hope, of peace...Christ Jesus. And they can have that too if they will only believe. It's a testimony to fellow believers that God is working in your life like He is in their lives. It's an encouragement, a support, to all who hear your testimony...and most importantly, it brings glory to God.
So here's this months featured testimony...thanks to Cindy. :)
I believe that everyone, whether or not they are Christian, has a story to tell of how they overcame some obstacle in their lives. Me being a Christian means that I have a testimony of how God brought me through something in my past and saved me from it. This is my testimony of how God brought me through my screwed up past and made me new again.
I guess I can start by saying that I grew up with an alcoholic mother that never had any time for my little brother or me. So I grew up without the love and attention that little kids need and desire. I made a friend when I was about six years old and we were inseparable. We did everything together and I started going to church with her and her grandma. I was just a little girl, so I thought that it was just church (I didn’t know about the different religions or anything like that). So I attended this church with her for a couple of years, until I was about 13 years old and I discovered that I was going to a Mormon Church. I didn’t want to stop going, but I had to because we moved away.
We moved from California to Arizona and I was as lost as I could be. I left my best friend and church behind and I thought it was the end of the world. Once I started school, I was OK. I made new friends and even got my first boyfriend when I was in the 8th grade. I was happy that my life was taking off again. I thought that I was on the right road and that I didn’t need God to be happy. Boy, was I wrong.
Once I hit high school, everything went down hill. I broke up with my first boyfriend of nine months and I started to fool around with any boy that wanted to. I know now that I was just trying to feel the spot in my heart and life that only Jesus and his love can fill, but at the time, I thought I was happy and doing good in my life. Then I did something that would change my life forever. I lost my virginity at the age of 14 to someone I knew for only a couple of hours. I felt as if it was OK, because everyone else was doing it. I ended up sleeping with that same boy three other times and the next summer ended up sleeping with one of my guy friends.
At that point, my stepfather found out he was dying of liver cancer and only had a few months to live. That was sometime in August of 1998. At that time, our family decided to attend church in search of a miracle. At first, I did not want to go. I plead with my mother not to let me go, but I had to. The church we attended was a new church, and the first time I stepped into it, I felt the spirit of God. I knew that was my church. I loved going from the beginning and after about a month of attending the church, I got saved.
There was a big change in my life as a result. Not only was I having sex outside of marriage, but also I would get in brutal fights with my mother and I would call her every crude word in the book. I was a pretty bad teenager. But after I got saved, I felt different and I started to have respect for my mother and myself. My stepfather ended up passing away from his cancer on December 1, 1998, but he went to Heaven, for he got saved also before he died. So I was glad about that.
I’ve been a Christian for almost two years now, and even though I have been through some battles, I’m not the person I used to be and God is showing me his love and mercy everyday. It took me a while to forgive myself of all the bad things I did against God and myself, but I have since forgiven myself because if God can forgive me, I can forgive myself.
I hope my testimony has struck in your heart a since of peace knowing that we all make mistakes but that we can be forgiven and move on in our Lord Jesus.
-Cindy
(Editor's note: Thanks again to Cindy for sharing her testimony with us all! Please, if YOU have a testimony or "praise report" that you would like to share, send it to me for next month's issue. Your testimony is important, and it may be the tool that God can use to help someone else. God Bless!)
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