I just came across a blog post from Jon Wood at DailyPS entitled “How to Make Counterfeit and Quivering Christians” and it really got me to thinking about my life and my salvation experience.
I grew up in church. I did the whole church thing. I participated in Bible competitions, memorized tons of Scripture and was convinced I was a Christian. I mean, c’mon, I KNEW a lot about God. Or so I thought.
When I was a senior in high school I fell into a deep and severe depression. I went from being an honor student with a 3.7 GPA to barely hanging on enough to graduate. I hated life. I lost a ton of weight. I wanted to die. And on December 27, 2000 I was checked into a psychiatric hospital because I started cutting. I just wanted to end it all.
I got the help I needed and was put on medication. I went back to school and made an attempt to raise my GPA and by the end of the year I had raised it back to 2.9. I was a tenth of a point from a 3.0. I graduated June 13, 2001.
I started attending a local community college and then transferred to a Bible College in Tennessee after a year.
All this time I was still convinced I was a Christian.
Then I came home for spring break. My church had an evangelist come and speak and it was during this sermon that I realized my life had been nothing but a lie. The evangelist’s words spoke to me like none other. He made a statement that has stuck with me ever since. He said, “You can be 99% sure (of your salvation) but you’re still 100% lost.
It was right then and there that I knew I was a counterfeit. I grew up following the rules, I memorized Scripture. I had all the head knowledge but my heart wasn’t right. I gave my life to Christ on March 16, 2003. I became a new creation!
2 Corinthians 5:17: “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is GONE; a NEW life has begun!”
Now, of course, life hasn’t been perfect since then. I’ve messed up and I’ve slipped up and I’ve tried to give up. But I found my way back each time. I’m a sinner! I’m going to slip up. I’m going to make mistakes. But God pulls me back in with his love for me. He loves me too much to let me go.
And I love Him too much to let HIM go.
Are you a counterfeit Christian or are you real?
Our life truly changes from the world when we have accepted Jesus and picked up our cross. Things we used to do, we do no longer. He changes us. 💗💗
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Thanks for sharing, Leigh! Though my life and struggles have been very different, I totally relate to having that epiphany where I really and truly became a Christian even after calling myself one for years.
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