Rebirth: how it changed me

My birth certificate doesn't show it, but today is my real birthday.

I used to be a lying, thieving little brat. My siblings’ treasured possessions gathered in my secret chimney corner and I pretended to know nothing about them, while I cruelly took advantage of the one friend who adored me.

But nineteen years ago today, my daddy and I had a talk about sin.

“What do you think we should do about it?” he asked.

“I guess do a lot of good things to outweigh all the bad things,” I replied logically.

But on that chilly Sunday morning, I asked Jesus to take the punishment for my crimes, then I asked Him to come into my chilly little heart and stay. I was re-born that day. And nothing has been the same since.

My problems haven’t all gone away. I may be saved, but I’ve been lost again and again, seeking acceptance in all the wrong ways and trying to please a false god that I had made up in my head because I didn't understand what the real God was like. I continued to do a lot of good things to outweigh all the bad things, living a life of self-inflicted discipline that was not real Christianity. I have used the people I cared about most and kept the rest of the world at arm’s length.

But the real God has been there every step of the way, whispering love and truth, redeeming and transforming each area of brokenness I didn’t know I had. One. Step. At a time. And He’s been waking me, waking me . . . to Life, Love, and Adventure with Him. For nineteen years.

And because a real relationship with Jesus Christ is a living thing, you are never the same for long. I’m not the same person I was nineteen years ago or five years ago or six months ago.

It’s been an unforgettable journey and worth every step.

I hope you can find the same God on your journey. Meanwhile, maybe I can tell you about mine...