NavImpact

A student friend in Illinois was recently baptized! He typed up his story of Christ's transforming love and gave me permission to post it here. What a privilege we have to participate with God in what He's doing!  

"I didn't grow up going to church. If asked, I would say I was a Christian, but I didn't live it out or care much about it. I thought that things about God would be taken care of after I die and that it was up to me to make myself happy in this life. I sought fulfillment in things of the world (friends, school, pleasures, self-image), but they never made me truly happy. I didn't feel like I was a person that anyone could love, because I wasn't good enough for them. I would often struggle with depression, not knowing where to find happiness.

I came to think that finding a spouse would be what made me happy. So one of the few times I had ever prayed was the end of junior year in high school. I tried to make a deal with God, saying that if he gave me a girlfriend, I would go to church. Well, a little bit later, I got a girlfriend and started going to church. But I only went for about a month. We dated throughout my senior year, and I began to realize that not even a relationship can fulfill me. We broke up the summer before I started college. Around then I finally realized that nothing in the world would fulfill me.

It was also around that time that someone I knew introduced me to the Navigators, a Christian ministry on campus. I went because I didn't really have any close friends left and I wanted to get a head-start on making friends in college. It was through them that I began to understand the gospel. That God loves me unconditionally; that I don't have to impress God or be a great person in order for him to love me; but that I could just place my trust in Jesus Christ in order to receive forgiveness of sins and know God personally.

One of the staff members, Jeff, began to mentor me and take me through the New Testament. I had never read the Bible before, partly because I thought it was too long. But Jeff started me with one of the four Gospels, the Book of Mark, which is only about 20 pages long, so I thought I'd give it a try. It contains a full summary of the ministry of Jesus. As a result of this, I began to learn what it meant to be a follower of Jesus here in this life, and I gradually came to give him control of my life.

Since then I have been growing in my walk with Christ, and there have been many changes in my life that reflect that. I've realized that I have a new identity. When I placed my trust in Jesus, I was adopted into God's family, so my status with other people doesn't really matter. My status with God is what matters. God loves me unconditionally, so I have begun to understand how to love other people in that way - to care for them not because of what they can give in return to me, but because they are valuable in the sight of God.

Finally, God has given me fulfillment. I can be content without pleasures of the world, because it is God himself who is the only one who can ultimately make us happy. Life isn't always rainbows and butterflies, but I can truly say that I am content with my life, because Jesus is my greatest treasure. I can now wake up with a sense of purpose in the morning, knowing my new identity and eternal peace in Christ."