6 Things I Learned When I Became A Christian

Seven years ago my life changed forever when Jesus Christ came into my life. October 8, 2011 I finally allowed Jesus into my heart after battling Him for six months. Over the last seven years here are six things I learned when I became a follower of Christ.

1.) I learned to come as you are.

This is one of the hardest lessons I had to learn. Before I came to Jesus my life was shackled by the sins that were in my life. At the time I was struggling with a depression because of many things that were going on in my life. One area where I had turned to was to pornography. I had become addicted without realizing it. I would watch it every day just looking for a moment of peace. However, I can remember feeling even more empty and depressed after falling into this sin. I can remember around June or July of 2011. We had gone to Church camp and God had been working on my life, but at camp He really began to work on my soul. So guess what Jonathan told God. I said this “God, as soon as I stop this pornography addiction I will come to you and surrender my life to you.” Guess what happened, the addiction didn't stop. It almost got worse. It wasn't until I heard a pastor preach a sermon and say “God doesn't want you to change to come to Him, He just wants you to come to Him. He will do the changing.” That spoke loudly to me, it was like God took the Bible and smacked me across the face with it. That is when I realized that I cannot make that change, only God can. Since October of 2011 I have been a saved follower of Christ. Oh and by the way the statement that the pastor made is true because I am no longer a pornography watcher by God’s grace. Don't let your current sin hold you back from allowing God to change you. God wants you, in all your brokenness. God doesn't want a perfect person, He sent us a perfect savior to save our imperfect souls!

2.) I learned what it means to be a Christian, not just a believer.

Look this statement can come off as very judgmental, but you have to understand that the word Christian means Christ Follower. Even the demons believe in God, but they don't follow Him. Heck, even Satan has seen God and there is no doubt that Satan believes God is real, why would he try to pull us away from God so much if he didn’t. Here’s where I am going with this, a lot of people will believe, but only few choose to follow Christ. The most important thing every single Christian needs to understand, especially Christians in this generation is this: The Cross isn't the finish line, its the starting line of a new life. I say that to say this, God wants us to believe in Him, but more importantly He wants us to follow Him. (Matthew 19:16-22) is a story about a rich young ruler. Long story short, he asked Jesus what it would take to become a follower. Jesus tells him to lay down all of his possessions and to come follow Him. But the rich you ruler walks away sorrowful because He had so many possessions. The young ruler believed that Jesus could save him, but when Jesus told him what it would take to follow Him, he walked away sorrowful. Jesus tells us to follow Him. Are we going to follow Him or will we be like the rich young ruler and walk away as only a believer, but never a follower.

3.) I learned that it’s not about where you've been, it’s about where you're going.

Sometimes you have to go through the lowest part of the valley to reach the highest peak of the mountain. Ive been in the valley. In the last three years I have lost a grandma, I have witnessed cancer consume my dad and then watch him pass away from that cancer, and I have seen a church nearly crumble to the ground that I serve at. There have been days where I feel like Ezekiel walking through the valley of dry bones. But what I’ve learned is to appreciate those moments in the valley, because not only is God with me in the valley, not only is God growing me while I’m in the valley, but as we journey through the valley God is preparing us for a mountain top experience. We all have a past, we all have things we aren't proud of, we've all been in the valley at some point in our life and we've probably felt so alone in our journey through the valley. God is right there with us in the valley leading us to the mountain. We’ve all been in dark places and have regret, but when God becomes a part of our lives we no longer worry about where we've been without Him, we now are able to enjoy where we are going to go with Him. The old you that belonged to the world cannot compare to the new you who is clothed with God’s grace. (Ephesians 4:22-24)

4.) I learned that God always delivers on His promises.

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I think this is one of His greatest promises. If we do confess our sins, then He promises that He will forgive us of those sins. That’s what love is, that’s who God is. Isaiah 40:29 “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” God has strengthened me in my weakest moments. When my dad was battling cancer this was a verse I was clinging to. I prayed for strength every day and God helped me power through one of the greatest struggles in my life. James 4:7 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” We need to take this promise a little more seriously. James is the half brother of Jesus and he has a powerful statement that if we submit to God then Satan flees from us! I always imagine a bully on the playground picking on a kid and the kid running to hide behind his father and the bully running away because he's afraid of the father when I read this verse. James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” There has never been a time where I have asked God for wisdom about a certain situation and He hasn't delivered. God has always delivered on this promise. John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” This promise hits deep but is truth the world needs to hear. God promises that if we believe we have eternal life, He also states that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. There is no other way. He also promises that those who reject Him will not receive eternal life and the wrath of God (Hell) will remain on them.

5.) I learned that God gave me a torch to light the way.

Matthew 5: 14-16 “14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” I love what the old song says. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. God has given us His word which he calls “A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105.) We are to live our lives where people can see Christ living through us. We are to be the lights in this dark world. Our lives should draw people closer to Jesus, not push them away. Don't hide a light that God has given you to shine.

6.) You never stop learning.

Enough said. You never stop learning how to live a better life that is more Christ centered. We do this through His word. God is continually changing our lives. Maybe the most important thing I’ve learned over these past seven years is to be the clay and allow God to be the potter. I want God to shape me into what He wants me to be. The most beautiful thing about clay as its being molded is that it is full of cracks and short comings. But when you see the final product it has no cracks and is a beautiful piece of pottery that took time be made perfect in the sculptors eyes. Our lives are full of cracks and short comings but as God is molding us, He is shaping us with the perfection of His final product in mind. Until we reach eternity we will never get to see the total perfection of God’s work, but as we are here on Earth we get to see Him mold us into what He wants us to be, we just have to be willing to be the clay.