“I’ve always considered myself a Christian.
I was born into a family where my Mom and Dad are both Christians and we went to church every Sunday. They were and still are very active in the Church and one of my grandmothers was even a minister.
“But if I’m honest I didn’t have a personal relationship with Christ until my late 20s.
I started questioning why I believed what I believed and what all the religious practices, traditions and rituals meant that I had been taught and participated in my whole life. I realized that I had never read the entire Bible cover to cover for myself. I’d just read the snippets we recited together in church.
So I decided to read it for myself. It was hard. There was lots I didn’t understand. There were things that conflicted with what I’d been taught. I began to realize that a lot of what we did in church every week didn’t come from instruction God had given in the Bible. It was “made up” and designed by a committee of well-intentioned men.
It was around this time that I started dating the man that would eventually become my husband. I started visiting his church and it opened my eyes to true personal worship.
I grew up in a denomination where Sunday service is very structured and worship is corporate - we recited scripture together, prayer is reading a pre-written prayer out loud.
Although you are encouraged to have your own home prayer life, there was not much individuality or personal expression of worship during Sunday services. This is not meant as a condemnation of any denomination, but for me personally…
“I realized that that type of Christianity was not feeding my soul.
All that “religion” was standing in the way of me having my own “relationship” with Jesus Christ. I realized that I didn’t want to be a Christian because my parents are Christians. I didn’t want to be defined or feel boxed in by the traditions of a particular denomination.
I wanted a personal relationship with Jesus. A direct relationship. An every day, moment-by-moment relationship.
I wanted to live by His word and understand it for myself, not just blindly believing what others told me it says.
So one day, I got down on my knees beside my bed and gave my life to Christ.
I asked Him to come into my life and told Him I wanted a relationship with Him…and my life has never been the same.
It’s not the typical conversion story of some big event happening that drove my life to accepting Christ. I didn’t have a moment of conviction during service one Sunday and decide to walk down the aisle.
And although I had been baptized as a baby and said the “official” words at my confirmation ceremony at 13, it wasn’t until I made the decision for myself, with an audience of One, just me and Jesus alone in my bedroom, that I truly became a follower of Christ.
What’s your conversion story? How and when did you accept Jesus as your personal Savior?
Jamila is the founder of loved+blessed. On her personal mission to leave a legacy of encouragement, she blogs about her own life lessons with the hope that it will bring joy into others’ lives and help them find the courage to keep walking in faith knowing that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord. Read her testimony of how God turned her misery into ministry.
