I've been asked a lot "Why would you want to go to Africa?". I have expected questions similar to this one. My answer is twofold, the first part being about this awesome relationship I have with a dude named Jesus.
Even though I grew up going to church and had a lot of knowledge about God, I didn’t really know Him and definitely didn’t have a personal relationship with Him. For me, God just wasn’t an active part of life. I went to church and Sunday school every week. I believed all of the information I knew about God and it guided my morals of what was right and what was wrong, but it was mostly from a distance. I was constantly living to fulfill others’ expectations for me and to ultimately be accepted by others. I did this by working hard to get good grades, making the volleyball team, following the rules, and doing what I was supposed to do. As a result, I felt empty and worn-out.
Every Memorial Day from 7th grade to 12th grade, I went with my church's youth group on a retreat in the Poconos we called Tusc. At Tusc when I was a freshman in high school, I was challenged for the first time with the question of ‘What am I living for?’. I believed that God loves us and He sent Jesus to die for our sins so we can live in heaven with God forever, but that was not reflected in the way I was living. I was living for playing time, straight A’s and a being a morally good person. Once I realized how contradicting this was, I decided that I needed God to be a dynamic part of my life.
At that moment, I sat down and just told God that I was sorry for not following Him and doing things that were not honoring to Him. I asked Him to forgive me for those sins and I thanked God for loving me. I then thanked Him for sending Jesus to die for the sins I’d done, so that I don’t have to pay the price for them and I can live with God and Jesus in heaven forever. I felt a rush of calmness come over me and from that point on I have never been the same.
My life is far from perfect, but it is way better now that Jesus is a huge and active part of my life. Instead of living for things that do not satisfy and will ultimately fail me, I try to live for Jesus because I am no longer a slave to those things and now experience freedom that lies with the new life I have found in Jesus. I still struggle with letting others' expectations and acceptance of me take control over areas of my life. I find myself continually going back to God and asking him to let His love be enough for me. The best thing is this: Jesus will never leave me. He will always completely satisfy me, always accept me and most importantly always love me.
I challenge you to ponder the question, "What am I living for?", because it changed the trajectory of my life.
“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Even though I grew up going to church and had a lot of knowledge about God, I didn’t really know Him and definitely didn’t have a personal relationship with Him. For me, God just wasn’t an active part of life. I went to church and Sunday school every week. I believed all of the information I knew about God and it guided my morals of what was right and what was wrong, but it was mostly from a distance. I was constantly living to fulfill others’ expectations for me and to ultimately be accepted by others. I did this by working hard to get good grades, making the volleyball team, following the rules, and doing what I was supposed to do. As a result, I felt empty and worn-out.
Every Memorial Day from 7th grade to 12th grade, I went with my church's youth group on a retreat in the Poconos we called Tusc. At Tusc when I was a freshman in high school, I was challenged for the first time with the question of ‘What am I living for?’. I believed that God loves us and He sent Jesus to die for our sins so we can live in heaven with God forever, but that was not reflected in the way I was living. I was living for playing time, straight A’s and a being a morally good person. Once I realized how contradicting this was, I decided that I needed God to be a dynamic part of my life.
At that moment, I sat down and just told God that I was sorry for not following Him and doing things that were not honoring to Him. I asked Him to forgive me for those sins and I thanked God for loving me. I then thanked Him for sending Jesus to die for the sins I’d done, so that I don’t have to pay the price for them and I can live with God and Jesus in heaven forever. I felt a rush of calmness come over me and from that point on I have never been the same.
My life is far from perfect, but it is way better now that Jesus is a huge and active part of my life. Instead of living for things that do not satisfy and will ultimately fail me, I try to live for Jesus because I am no longer a slave to those things and now experience freedom that lies with the new life I have found in Jesus. I still struggle with letting others' expectations and acceptance of me take control over areas of my life. I find myself continually going back to God and asking him to let His love be enough for me. The best thing is this: Jesus will never leave me. He will always completely satisfy me, always accept me and most importantly always love me.
I challenge you to ponder the question, "What am I living for?", because it changed the trajectory of my life.
“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Modimo o a go rata.
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