Christopher’s Testimony

Growing up in a Christian home as an adopted child came with its own learning curves. Christian life was always normal to me but never felt unique to just myself as an individual. God was merely an idea or lifestyle with a set choice of rules and regulations rather than a relationship worth seeking. As a young child, I said a prayer and thought that was it, the job was done. It wasn’t until later in life that I understood what a relationship with Jesus actually looked like.

At the age of 13, I remember sitting in a church service and the pastor was preaching on how much God loved me and that He didn’t want me to die and go to Hell. I remember the pastor’s urgency that sin apart from grace would isolate me from God and lead to complete torment and isolation. I’m going to be honest, that frightened me. I was unsure of my salvation and I didn’t know where I would end up. That day, I did something about it. I got up from my seat, walked down to the front, and prayed that Jesus would save me from my sin. I realized I needed God. I needed grace.

Life after salvation was not perfect. I continued to fall short. I continued to to be tempted with sin. However, I understood my earthly adoption more in my spiritual adoption. I understood that God wanted me. He sought me so that I had an opportunity to accept Him as my own Father.

In 2011, I finally met the person that God divinely selected just for me. I met my beautiful wife, Alicia Hamilton. Throughout my immature stages of salvation, she has taught me what unconditional love can look like. I could be a bonehead, but she always pointed me vertically. I’m finding out that God has a specific design for each and everyone of us. I’m not going to stand here and tell you I have it all figured out, but if there’s one thing I understand, it’s grace and love.

Grace has taught me, following Jesus is hard. It’s constant denial of the flesh and constant renewal of your mind in prayer and His word. Grace covers your earthly identity and replaces it with a new one in Christ. Love has taught me that no matter how short you fall, true love will be there to help you back up. God has given us all the tools we need to grow His kingdom. I hope that this little bit of my story will help someone out there understand just how amazing a God we serve.