I am growing up in a Christian home and have been going to church as long as I can remember. We moved to Birmingham three weeks after I was born because PBC offered my dad a job. I didn’t really take going to church seriously before I became a Christian. I didn’t try very hard to obey. I was a pretty bad person who did what my parents told me to, but almost never with a cheerful heart because I wanted to do what I wanted to do. This shows that I had a sinful heart. I didn’t pay attention during sermons because I didn’t really understand.

A while back my mom saw me not paying attention during the sermon and disciplined me. The next Sunday, Mr. Kyle preached, and I paid a lot more attention because I didn’t want to get disciplined again. Ever since then, I’ve been paying more attention and have come to understand the Gospel more.

I have come to understand that I am a sinner. Ephesians 2 says, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” That means I didn’t want to or try to do the right thing and obey God’s law. Not only that, but it means that I was constantly headed toward death. God is holy, perfect, and without sin. If we rebel against him then we will die. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” I came to understand that Jesus actually died on the cross to pay for my sin. I realized the Gospel isn’t only the news that Jesus died for my sins, but that if I repented and believed, I would be saved. Those verses say that God is the reason I am free from my sin and that Christ is the only way to heaven.

I wish that I had paid attention earlier! Now, I pray regularly. When I used to read my Bible, I read it so I could get a reward. I read it as fast as I could get it over with. Now, the Holy Spirit helps me. I can’t read it as fast because I’m understanding it more and more and asking more questions. I am still sinful, but I see the Holy Spirit helping me with self-control and other struggles. The more the Holy Spirit helps me obey Jesus, the more I want to obey him. I want to be baptized to show the church and the world that I am following Jesus. I am praying Christ will help me follow him for all of my life. I do not know the exact moment I became a Christian. It feels like a gradual process. But right now, I’ve repented of my sin and been saved from death. Now I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord!