When asked about my testimony my mind always goes back to this friend of mine who became an atheist. We used to argue about our faith, certain topics in theology that needs to be sorted out.
I liked the way she defended her faith, shields up and spear ready to thrust, but then, fast forward to the last time we had McDonald together after six years from graduation, she now told me that she lost her faith.
When the typhoon Sendong swept through the city it didn’t just washed away thousands of lives and household belongings, it also washed away her faith.
I received Jesus Christ into my life in a very early age. My father was a Christian and he brought my mother to Christianity as well. The gospel was preached to us every birthdays, funeral, Sunday service, daily vacation bible school, and in school also, in a very Baptist way. I can only count on my hand the times where the gospel was not preached. But it was in a “prison cell”, which was a room under a staircase, where I truly received Christ as Lord.
We can never see progress if we don’t look back. When my friend asked me why do I still believe in God after the flood came, after all the bad things that happens in humanity these days all that came out of my mouth is that God was evident in my life. When I was struggling to get by on my high school where I studied away from home God provided church and family to help me out in knowing him more and in a way He found a way to disciple me.
When I transferred here in Cagayan de Oro, he placed me in a good church and in my everyday struggles I was able to sustain it all because of God. I know it was God because if not I would be dead by now or worst I would have been a career criminal robbing banks and doing some heist here and there. I can say that because I only had little guidance to begin with. Being cousins with pastors doesn’t mean that I am my faith will progress because they were strong.
When I transferred here in Cagayan de Oro, he placed me in a good church and in my everyday struggles I was able to sustain it all because of God. I know it was God because if not I would be dead by now or worst I would have been a career criminal robbing banks and doing some heist here and there. I can say that because I only had little guidance to begin with. Being cousins with pastors doesn’t mean that I am my faith will progress because they were strong.
Being a long time Christian I was not exempted to bad things in life. I struggled with some sins too. This is what happens when we don’t abide in God daily. Sometimes I look at the lives of our leaders and they don’t really resemble the life of Jesus Christ and I get discouraged. I battle the thoughts of not succumbing to the pull of the world. I even asked myself I’ve sinned so much and why do I always come back and worship God? I was baffled by the answer God gave me, He told me that He will never leave me nor forsake me. I sin because I worry that he will not be there for me. I get some money from my father because I look at my problem and I don’t believe that God will help me. Challenges always happen and we were to choose whether to choose to honor our God or not. When we are in faith there will always be that fall out to distrust God.
In my many years of living for Jesus doing a lot of ministry and serving on different churches one thing will always remain: our personal encounter with God. I didn’t believe that my testimony is as good as other Christians’ because I was not a drug addict, con artist, or criminal in my teenage years and met God along the line and got my life up-side down. Looking back today when I was in College some of my classmates tease me for being a pastor or a very spiritual person hoping to make me a laughingstock. To me that was, in a way, being a witness.
I believe that my life is made by God to testify that His love is not conditional, that if we worship him then He will love us, He loves us even though we don’t feel the same for Him and will continue on. Also that Christianity is way better be lived than preached because the most effective way to share the gospel is to shut our mouth and only telling them the good news when necessary.
I’ve been in so many churches with so many Christians. Those I truly treasure are those who resemble Christ more than them.
I’ve been in so many churches with so many Christians. Those I truly treasure are those who resemble Christ more than them.
Sincerely,
