I started going to church at a very young age; however, Jesus did not become a reality to me until much later. Before I came to really know Christ, I had the same dreams and goals of any other young child. I wanted to become rich and famous. My life revolved around myself, and this was reflected in my actions and thoughts. However, as I got older, I began to think about the concept of death. It doesn’t take a lot of logic to realize how insignificant life is without a purpose that goes beyond it. You work hard and suffer for these worldly dreams, but no matter what happens, you still die and lose everything. At the same time, your life was barely a spark to the rest of the world. It was then that occurred to me that Jesus offered something better. I had heard the gospel countless times already: I am a sinner, an enemy of the righteousness of God. I deserve total separation from God, but God through His love for me sent down His only Son to die in my place, so that if I believed, I wouldn’t have to suffer the ultimate punishment, the absence of God forever. Due to previous ignorance and lack of realization, the gift of the gospel had never shined so brightly than it did to me at this point.

Finally, at a VBS I was attending in fifth grade, (not CGBC unfortunately) one of the leaders explained yet again how sin was the reason why we had to die and how Jesus came to save us from our inevitable doom. It was then that I decided that I was done waiting. Jesus would be my personal savior. I knew I was a sinner and I knew that God had provided a way for me to go back to Him. This ultimately gave me a purpose in life that went beyond physical death. And so, I prayed with the VBS leader to accept Christ into my heart.

After I had accepted Jesus into my life, I was humbled as my life wasn’t necessarily about me anymore. I found that He slowly became a source of love and encouragement when the world turned its back on me. My worldly dreams and goals also became obsolete when compared to what I found in Christ.

However, as I entered my teen years, I started questioning my faith as a Christian, and this became the main reason I hid from baptism. I felt too ashamed of how “imperfect” I was. How could God still love me after I had done so many sinful things? Now, I have realized that there is nothing bad enough I can do for Christ to stop loving me. No matter how much we sin, Christ will always save better. Matthew 6:19-21 tells us that our treasure here on earth will eventually fade away, so we should focus on storing our treasures in heaven, where our hearts are. We will always have these treasures even after we leave this earth. I am done living for this Earth. Now, I have decided to take a step of obedience and become baptized in unashamed public declaration of my dedication to Christ.