My Testimony
One of the things I wanted to do my senior year was type up my testimony and give to my friends to read it. Not to draw attention to myself but to let people know how God has affected my life. I had the chance to speak on this in front of the Christian clubs a few times and I've even told it to a few people personally, but I never got around to doing this. Here it is.
I was born on February 5, 1993; the third out of four boys: Frank, Robin, me, then Brandon. My loving mother worked her butt off to support the family and continues to do so, while my dad didn't really fulfill his role, not showing any of us how to be a man. I was never really close with any of my brothers on a personal level, but I looked up to my older brothers and learned from them. Growing up, our family considered ourselves Buddhist, though we weren't religious. Socially, I wanted others to like me. I wanted to be cool. I took my cues from what I saw around me, whether it was people, music, or television. I'm considered the smart one in my family. I've done well throughout school and was a major gamer from the fourth grade through middle school. I also fell in love with the game of basketball in middle school after seeing my brothers get into it. I wasn't that good but I wanted to be and I worked hard at it so I can gain some respect. I wanted to be better than them, as they set the standard for me since I looked up to them. Coming into high school, I encountered my second love and my focus shifted to it. Football. I saw Robin play so I decided to and I enjoyed it a lot. Once again, I learned from him and my goal was to be better than them. I guess you can say I'm pretty competitive. I've never really had a group of friends who I've been close with for a long period of time, but the team became like a second family to me. These were guys who I spent so much time with, the guys I hung out with, and the guys I've shared memories with. My best friends were my teammates. I still did well in school, but I cared more about football and it was what I looked forward to. Oh yeah, I was a pretty good kid throughout my life, compared to most high schoolers. I never smoked, I only got drunk once, never really got into partying, only cussed from about the end of my freshman year to the end of my sophomore year, and thank God I'm still a virgin. Plus, I'm half genius and very attractive. Never had a girlfriend though, so don't even try. Moving on, by the end of my freshman year I was convinced by a good friend, God was not real and I completely rejected him. I hated him and thought it was dumb for people to believe in him. I also thought I was "that dude" and didn't really need anything like Him. I actually never really knew about God until a little while before this. On the other hand, Robin, who I looked up to, got saved and I began to notice changes in him. Then, during the summer before my sophomore year, a couple of my coaches, Rob and Snyder invited the team to a Bible study so I decided to check it out and see what this Christian stuff was all about. What a coincidence. Plus, there was food. At first I thought it was pretty cool cause I was able to answer questions easily from what we read, since I'm half genius. But even though I participated, I still didn't truly believe. I still wanted to stick with my family's beliefs even though I wasn't really into it. Even outside Rob's apartment I would go back to my regular self, cussing and stuff. However, over the course of a few months I began to believe as I continued to go to this Bible study. After all, this was where I heard the Gospel message for the first time in my life. I saw how some weird white dude like Rob can care so much for us, though he hardly even knew us at first, all because of the effect God had on his life. It was so strange to me. This God who I began to believe in changed lives. I first saw it through Robin, then through Rob. So by some time in 2008, probably around February, I decided to follow Jesus Christ. My salvation wasn't one of those occasions where I instantly believed and gave my life to him. It was a process where God slowly worked in me and brought me to him. And after this the process continued. As I said earlier, I'm a pretty competitive person and I also worked hard in anything important to me. I wanted to be the best Christian out of the others who went to this Bible study. This was probably the wrong attitude to have, but it kind of helped me get closer to him. I read my Bible, prayed, and tried to do what I could to be better. I had an amazing experience that summer with Young Life camp and stuff. On December 21, 2008 I got baptized. One of the best days of my life. It was such an amazing feeling. Through my walk with him, my focus shifted from myself to Him. I still love football, but God is my greatest love. He used what I had in my life and what I was good at for His glory. Cause in the end, everything IS for His glory.
That's my testimony of how, by the grace of God, I got saved. It might not be intense like others you might hear, but it doesn't have to be. My mistake was self-exaltation. It might not be that bad on worldly terms, but it's huge because I put myself before God. If there were ratings for how bad sins were, I think this would be pretty high. But the main point is, He saved me from this. He changed my life. I have no doubt in my mind God is real and through Jesus, I am saved and I am able to have an amazing relationship with Him. This is one of the few decisions in my life I do not regret at all. He's everything to me, from my Father to my King. This relationship is the greatest experience ever and He continues to work in me, changing me as I build my relationship with Him. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you allow God to work in your life. Peace!
I was born on February 5, 1993; the third out of four boys: Frank, Robin, me, then Brandon. My loving mother worked her butt off to support the family and continues to do so, while my dad didn't really fulfill his role, not showing any of us how to be a man. I was never really close with any of my brothers on a personal level, but I looked up to my older brothers and learned from them. Growing up, our family considered ourselves Buddhist, though we weren't religious. Socially, I wanted others to like me. I wanted to be cool. I took my cues from what I saw around me, whether it was people, music, or television. I'm considered the smart one in my family. I've done well throughout school and was a major gamer from the fourth grade through middle school. I also fell in love with the game of basketball in middle school after seeing my brothers get into it. I wasn't that good but I wanted to be and I worked hard at it so I can gain some respect. I wanted to be better than them, as they set the standard for me since I looked up to them. Coming into high school, I encountered my second love and my focus shifted to it. Football. I saw Robin play so I decided to and I enjoyed it a lot. Once again, I learned from him and my goal was to be better than them. I guess you can say I'm pretty competitive. I've never really had a group of friends who I've been close with for a long period of time, but the team became like a second family to me. These were guys who I spent so much time with, the guys I hung out with, and the guys I've shared memories with. My best friends were my teammates. I still did well in school, but I cared more about football and it was what I looked forward to. Oh yeah, I was a pretty good kid throughout my life, compared to most high schoolers. I never smoked, I only got drunk once, never really got into partying, only cussed from about the end of my freshman year to the end of my sophomore year, and thank God I'm still a virgin. Plus, I'm half genius and very attractive. Never had a girlfriend though, so don't even try. Moving on, by the end of my freshman year I was convinced by a good friend, God was not real and I completely rejected him. I hated him and thought it was dumb for people to believe in him. I also thought I was "that dude" and didn't really need anything like Him. I actually never really knew about God until a little while before this. On the other hand, Robin, who I looked up to, got saved and I began to notice changes in him. Then, during the summer before my sophomore year, a couple of my coaches, Rob and Snyder invited the team to a Bible study so I decided to check it out and see what this Christian stuff was all about. What a coincidence. Plus, there was food. At first I thought it was pretty cool cause I was able to answer questions easily from what we read, since I'm half genius. But even though I participated, I still didn't truly believe. I still wanted to stick with my family's beliefs even though I wasn't really into it. Even outside Rob's apartment I would go back to my regular self, cussing and stuff. However, over the course of a few months I began to believe as I continued to go to this Bible study. After all, this was where I heard the Gospel message for the first time in my life. I saw how some weird white dude like Rob can care so much for us, though he hardly even knew us at first, all because of the effect God had on his life. It was so strange to me. This God who I began to believe in changed lives. I first saw it through Robin, then through Rob. So by some time in 2008, probably around February, I decided to follow Jesus Christ. My salvation wasn't one of those occasions where I instantly believed and gave my life to him. It was a process where God slowly worked in me and brought me to him. And after this the process continued. As I said earlier, I'm a pretty competitive person and I also worked hard in anything important to me. I wanted to be the best Christian out of the others who went to this Bible study. This was probably the wrong attitude to have, but it kind of helped me get closer to him. I read my Bible, prayed, and tried to do what I could to be better. I had an amazing experience that summer with Young Life camp and stuff. On December 21, 2008 I got baptized. One of the best days of my life. It was such an amazing feeling. Through my walk with him, my focus shifted from myself to Him. I still love football, but God is my greatest love. He used what I had in my life and what I was good at for His glory. Cause in the end, everything IS for His glory.
That's my testimony of how, by the grace of God, I got saved. It might not be intense like others you might hear, but it doesn't have to be. My mistake was self-exaltation. It might not be that bad on worldly terms, but it's huge because I put myself before God. If there were ratings for how bad sins were, I think this would be pretty high. But the main point is, He saved me from this. He changed my life. I have no doubt in my mind God is real and through Jesus, I am saved and I am able to have an amazing relationship with Him. This is one of the few decisions in my life I do not regret at all. He's everything to me, from my Father to my King. This relationship is the greatest experience ever and He continues to work in me, changing me as I build my relationship with Him. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you allow God to work in your life. Peace!
"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." - 1 Corinthians 15:10
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