At the age of 12, I made the decision to accept Christ and become a Christian. My grandmother had taken me to her church for a Vacation Bible School. There I learned who God was and about His Son’s sacrifice. At the time, I made the decision to become a Christian out of obedience rather than out of any profound experience. Soon after, I studied the Bible and learned everything I could. I prayed regularly, not well but often.
The most profound lesson from my early years as a Christian would be that you can come as you are and God will be and is exactly what you need. For me, that meant a father. At the time, I desired to have a father who would love me as I was and not abuse me. Fortunately, God not only loved me but also brought me into a safer situation. At this point, God became my teacher.
I had entered a time when my life was uncertain and confusing, in other words, high school. I encountered issues with self-esteem, fitting in, and bullies. I remember countless evenings asking God to help me fit into a group and to help me know what to do about a local bully who was related to my new stepfather.
Rather than making all of my problems disappear this time, God taught me valuable lessons about being myself and praying for my enemies. I found a group of mismatched friends who accepted me as a Christian and a person. While they would pick on me, they also cared about me and allowed me to care about them.
In my search to deal with bullies, I learned about Jesus’ command to pray for our enemies. At first, I was resistant. However, I decided to give it a try. After many days of praying for the bully, I began to understand her and she began to back off. While we were never friends, we reached a state tolerated existence.
These are a few of the many lessons I have learned as a Christian. Since, I have seen God work miracles, and I have learned both the good and the bad of the church. I would never trade this experience for any another.