Christian testimony and faith narratives

Christian Testimony

Unlike many of the other religions of the world that define salvation as a long, arduous journey that doesn't necessarily lead to eternal life, serenity or peace, the Christian religion teaches that through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ all who believe in Him are saved and enter into an eternal relationship. Faith is critical to Christianity. Jesus Christ is within the Christian faith the son of God. Jesus became a man and walked on the earth 33 years, having a ministry of only three years, traveling less than 250 miles from where he was born, baptizing twelve disciples who together evangelized the Ancient Roman Empire throughout modern day Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Italy and Greece. Christ came to be sacrificed for the sins, or wrong-doings of the world, so that mankind would be free from condemnation. One only has to read the Old Testament of the Bible to fully appreciate the wrath of God against non-believers. The New Testament signals the birth of Jesus Christ and chronicles His life and the many activities of the disciples. The disciples became the chroniclers of Jesus' life and miracles and have a major impact on the world's economic, judicial, social, and political systems including many forms of government.

Why We Need Jesus Christ

Throughout the New Testament there are many examples of how Jesus gave hope, forgiveness and most of all, love to those that hated Him and what He stood for. He also spoke in terms of parables, which made the lessons easily understood by the common man. Jesus came to show us that hope, forgiveness and love are all the most ideal characteristics of the human experience. Jesus ultimately came and sacrificed Himself so we would have a means to connect with God and also have personal relationships with Him. Many initially enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ through baptism, which is what I did when I was an infant. Without Jesus Christ, the world would be nearly impossible to recognize from today and most assuredly there would be much more hate, pain, prejudice and all forms of sin resulting in people not being nearly as valued as they are based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. The world is a much, much better place since Jesus Christ came.

Testimony

Despite having good parents it was clear that I wasn't connecting with the best possible attitudes and approaches to managing my behavior. When I was younger I could be very attentive in class and mindful of my parents and the next minute have a severe temper tantrum and literally plant a fist into a wall. During those years I felt directionless yet also self-justified in doing whatever I wanted, however I wanted. Self-centered, self-consumed and often incredibly inflated about my own importance (spoiled) I felt that I was destined to be given everything I wanted and that nothing would stand in its way. You'd think that I'd have had a fair share of athletic or academic successes to justify my self-absorption and self-conceit yet there had only been mediocre successes. As I progressed into Junior High the condition only got worse, and I began to resent authority and the fact that I was becoming more aware of that fact that in reality I was nothing, a no one. Yet holding onto the feelings of superiority I continued to push for what I wanted, causing my parents much pain I am sure. It all came to the breaking point in High School when I saw how the selfishness was leading to drinking and staying out late with bad friends, and was eventually going to lead to really bad things like smoking or drugs. I didn't feel loved by anyone anymore and was more rebellious and depressed than ever. My parents were concerned with me and took an even harder stance against my having free time, threatening to send me away to a military school. My father even laid out all these brochures in front of me and told me to choose one to attend if I did not became nicer to my family. I began to feel really depressed after that and jumped at the chance to go away to a Young Life Summer Camp.

I went on the camp and could see there were other kids with troubled lives like mine. I however was considered to be one of the worst, I could tell how the leaders isolated me and had me spent time with one of the more senior counselors. The counselor spent a lot of time with me, nearly all the time there, talking about how Christ changes people, makes them see the world differently and turns hate into love. He also talked about how Christ died for my sins and I didn't have to walk around hating myself or people anymore. This was very strange for me, no one could see that in my before. After a week of talking about how much I hated people and myself especially, the counselor said we should pray and ask Jesus into my life. We prayed alone in the wilderness and I felt this incredible peace and love all around me. I'd never felt that before. Finally, I thought, someone accepts me for who I am! We prayed more and I felt the anger lift and realized I didn't have to fight anymore. You could feel the presence of love and understanding, it was amazing. I could not get enough of that.