| Real Stories
Real People Describe Their Own Spiritual Journeys Without Peace: Maria's Story Without Truth: John's Story Maria's Story I was a very religious person. I went to church weekly doing all the things I was supposed to do. But, it didn’t answer any of my questions. I didn’t feel any peace when I left and I still felt hopeless. I felt hopeless because my son was in trouble with the law and I was in a relationship where I felt trapped. One day, about a year and a half ago, I met a lady in the doctor’s office where I work. As we began talking about church and God, she invited me to her church. After attending that Sunday, I received a little pamphlet that explained how to have peace with God. It showed the cross bridging the gap between man and God. And it had the Bible verse where Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.” Suddenly, I realized he was THE way to peace with God. I always knew he died but I never knew he died for me. I invited Jesus into my life that night. Since I accepted Christ, I have had power and strength to leave that relationship and not be afraid. I’ve felt a sense of forgiveness. Before, I had never felt forgiven. I know I am here for a reason, there’s a purpose for my life. I’m free from worry; I’ve got real peace. I know that whatever happens it will be OK. And I know that I have eternal life. Top of page John's Story I committed my life to Jesus after trying to prove my Christian friends were wrong. I was successful in business, I had a loving wife and I was a good person. I had it all. What did I need religion for? – never mind Christ. To me, all religions were the same, selling the same product under a different wrapper - do good, don’t do bad, and you’ll be just fine. I couldn’t have been further from the truth. I grew up like every other kid. My parents dragged me to church each week. When I got older, I was on the Easter, Christmas, funeral, weddings rotation. That was enough. You don’t want to overdo that stuff you know! When my wife and I had our first daughter, we decided it might be good - for her - if we start going to church more regularly. We tried two different churches – the ones we grew up in. After going to each church for a while, we drifted away. We always sat in the back, and nobody ever paid any attention to us, until we left. Then we got letters looking for our weekly contributions! After responding, in writing, that stopped going because we didn’t get anything out of the church, we continued to get letters looking for the weekly contribution. I laughed because they proved me right. These religions were just pushing what we already know, do good, don’t do bad. They were just looking for money. I carried my smug attitude with me into many confrontations with my new secretary, who happened to be one of those wacky "Born-Agains". We continually battled over questions of religion. I was determined to prove her wrong, every chance I could. I went so far as to have her and her husband over for evenings of cross-examination. A couple of funny things happened though. My wife sat quietly while I grilled our guests, just listening. She eventually started going to a Bible study with my secretary and became a Christian! That was fine with me, because I was more enlightened than that. My attitude was, "that’s fine if it works for you." The other funny thing that happened was that the more I tried to prove Christianity wrong, the more it proved itself to be the only Truth. But I refused to give in. My wife would occasionally drag me to her new little Christian church. I thought it was nice, for them, but not for me. They told me that we are all born sinners. I refused to believe them. My first daughter fell right out of heaven. She was perfect. Then my second daughter was born. She was sinning in the delivery room. She had an independent, defiant spirit from the start! I then believed we were born sinners. (She has since become a beautiful, brilliant, wonderful Christian child.) On one Sunday that my wife dragged me to her church, the leaders were doing something very difficult. After two years of meeting with a family who had fallen away, they were releasing the family and themselves from their respective obligations to God and the church, just like Jesus said to do in Matthew. I thought about this a minute. When my wife and I left the other church years before, all anybody did was send us letters for past dues. But these people were different. These people actually cared about the salvation of those people. These people weren’t the same as all the others. Maybe Christianity was different after all. They always talked about how Christianity was a relationship with God, not a religion. I finally understood. I immediately surrendered my life to Jesus and at that point I felt the Holy Spirit enter my heart. All my questions about God were answered. All of my cynicism was gone. I felt free for the first time ever. All I wanted to do was to tell everyone I knew about the Good News – that Jesus died for our sins and that they too could be saved if they would only have faith. I now have a joy and peace that I have never known before because I have a Savior, Jesus Christ. Salvation doesn’t come by following some church’s rules. Salvation doesn’t come from my doing right or wrong. Salvation only comes through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and my faith in Him. My family life has improved dramatically since my wife and I are reading from the same page, so to speak - the Bible. I have given my children a legacy better than anything I could have worked for on earth. They have a spiritual life guaranteed by Christ. I have put them on the right path and are raising them as true Christians. It pains me to think about how arrogant I was, thinking I had all the answers. I don’t have all the answers anymore, but I know where to find them - the Bible. Top of page |
