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Inspired to Love Christ
I grew up in a Christian home with loving parents who taught me to love the Lord and treasure the Bible. They raised me to be a kind person, an open-minded person, a person that sought after the truth. All of the values and experiences I had as a child I've taken with me on my later journeys in life. Toward the end of my high school years, many things in the world attracted me and I became a rebellious youth. I never doubted God existed or could deny the experiences I had of Him, but I decided I had to find out the truth for myself.
In college I entered into the social scene and pursued the appealing activities I had longed to explore. For a while I tried to pretend that I was happy but deep inside I knew I wasn't. My parents and friends knew it as well. I wasn't the same person. I had become selfish and lazy; my dreams were buried under a heap of empty desires. This downhill slide culminated when I lost my job and had to drop all my classes with two weeks left in the semester.
I knew there was something wrong, so at that moment I decided to take a year off school to reevaluate my life. This year off was probably the most important thing I have ever done in my life. Here I was able to step back and look at myself, at who I was, and at what I was becoming. During this year off, I became very honest with myself. I realized I wasn't happy; I realized I was living a lie. In this year I began to talk to the Lord, to really explore the meaning of my life. At the end of the year, I decided to go back to school at the last moment, so I ended up on a friend's couch. These friends of mine were normal guys; they still liked to do crazy things but there was something special about them. One evening they invited me to go to another friend's house where some Christians were meeting. That one night changed my life in so many wonderful ways!
It is hard to explain it in words but when I sat in that living room and sang to the Lord, my heart was melted and I felt a love and joy that I had been searching for for so long. I looked around the room and I was home. This is when everything I had experienced as a child became so real to me. The local church really is my family. There is nothing like it on the earth! Everyone is looking for joy and peace; everyone is looking for true happiness, for a true family. People seek out different religions, people seek out support groups, people try to find solace in wealth, in pleasure...but they never find it. The answer is Christ. This is why I love the local church, because it inspires me to love Christ, to be filled with Christ, to know Christ in an intimate way. I have learned that the only way to truly be a family, the only way to truly love someone, the only way to have true happiness and satisfaction is through Christ. When we are filled with His life then spontaneously we love Him, spontaneously we love one another, and spontaneously we fulfill our purpose on this earth! This is what I love, this is what I testify. My life is a living testimony that Christ is so wonderful. He is the meaning of my life.
Jona Bringhurst | Back to List
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