Baptism

Today I was baptized! This is my Baptism writing that was read, you might call it my testimony:

I personally came to follow Christ only after being raised in a home where we had personal relationships with our church, our religion and our laws, and Jesus Christ was only a story in the bible (that our religion did not focus on.) Our Church, our religion and our laws had no place for “Grace,” therefore, I never knew about such things as Grace and Mercy or the abundant Love of God. That is, not until I first walked away from everything I knew about church, religion, laws and even the God that I did know, for a good number of years. I eventually hit a rock bottom place in my own life that was then full of anxiety, self-hatred and depression. I slowly began talking to God again and realized that I was not going to get out of it alone. Alone is how I got into such a miserable existence. On a usual depressing day on a normal tearful drive home from work, I pulled over and hung my head and yelled out “I believe in Jesus Christ!” It was a statement that had sat in my belly for a very long time, but I had never let it come out of my mouth. I knew it was the right thing, but I had believed the lies that Satan was telling me for so long that they had overshadowed this truth from God! I continued to say it a good 10 times more before I continued to drive the rest of the way home. I daily continued to speak out that I believed in Jesus Christ, and I worked with the Holy Spirit to listen to and believe more truths from the Word of God about myself. Eventually God slowly changed my core belief system about church, religion, laws and -myself! I followed Christ then and follow him today. I am still learning and growing in Christ everyday- I know it’s a lifelong process, but I also know the rewards are Righteousness, Peace and Joy!