Tattooed Faith

In the year and a half I’ve been a born-again Christian, I have heard many reasons unbelievers give for their unbelief. As I pondered their reasons, I realized that I too had used them before I came to know God. I didn’t want someone else, especially someone I could not see, telling me how to live my life. I questioned how a “loving God” would let me suffer the way I was and why he wouldn’t address the evil that was running ramped in our streets. I saw myself as a good person, so why would I need a God to be good? Not to mention, what I thought I knew about him, showed to be inconsistent in the sense of punishment. Why would a “loving God” send people to hell? I would also get annoyed, almost to the level of anger, when I noticed my friends and family getting closer to God. How could they buy into this? As I entered my twenties, I even began to despise God. He never did anything good for me, nor did he ever prove his existence, so why should I believe? I’m sure you’re now wondering how someone could go from hating God to a born-again Christian, right? Well, allow me to not only share my story with you but also explain who God REALLY is, what it means to follow Jesus, and the love he has to offer. As a former unbeliever myself, I’d like to tell you the truth lovingly, rather than seemingly insulting your intelligence.

I was recently watching a movie called “Play the Flute” and as I did, the actor playing the Youth Pastor said something that resonated with me. He was telling the students how his past life “Never brought [him] true joy.”. I let it sit for a bit and realized how true this was for me, as well! In my early twenties, I went through heartbreak after heartbreak, never feeling the joy of love. Looking for something to fill the void, I became extremely involved in sexual immorality. It brought me temporary joy, but after it was over, it didn’t change the fact I felt alone and had no joy in life. I prayed and prayed to meet my future husband, but it felt as if my prayer constantly fell on deaf ears. I began to hate God for it. Why me? That’s the question I’d constantly ask. One night, after a hook-up, I looked in the mirror and a still small voice asked me “What are you doing?”. At that moment, I realized what I was doing and began to drift away from those actions. Roughly five months later, I met my now husband. He was a Christian and began to take me to church. I felt so out of place. At that moment, I hated God. Time and time again, God would try to pull me to Him, but I would reject it. That is until I made a promise to Him. One of my friends was in a bad car accident and was not expected to survive. I prayed hard for God to save him. I told God if he saved my friend, I would commit my life to Him. The next day, I got a message saying my friend was up and walking, acting as if nothing had happened. Just moments before, there were no brain waves, activity, nothing. He was clinically dead and kept alive through artificial means. Even doctors were amazed. I knew what I had to do, so I held up the end of my promise. What I didn’t realize was how much I truly needed Jesus, or how much he was going to complete me.

There are various reasons why you may be an unbeliever. You might’ve been raised to believe the way you do, doubt God’s existence because of unanswered prayers, or you may have just been given misinformation regarding God. Now, I am in no way saying you’re wrong. I understand your truth is your truth and I cannot change that. I can, however, show you a different perspective. Please allow me to introduce you to the God that I know.

In the Christian faith, there is only one God. This is told to us in Isaiah 45:5 which states “I am the Lord, and there is no other, apart from me there is only one.” He is the creator of heaven and earth, and everything that inhabits the earth. While some may argue against creationism, consider the way the inhabitants on earth benefit from each other. Nature needs us to provide it with carbon dioxide and we need nature to provide us oxygen and necessities. Plants need the sun to grow. Flowers need bees to pollinate them. How could all this happen by chance? At the start of a galactic explosion? A divine creator has got to be behind this all. A common misconception about God is his loving nature contradicts with sending people to Hell. While I will discuss this later in the next section, 1 Peter 3:9 tells us something very different. This verse states “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone come to repentance.” This shows us he doesn’t actually want anyone to go to Hell. Again, I will discuss this further in the next section. Jesus’s disciple John also spoke of who God is in 1 John 4:16. He tells us God is love. Psalm 107:1 also mentions God being love. This verse says “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” With all the evil we see in the world today, it can be easy to believe otherwise. Why would a God who is so good let all this evil happen? It circles back to the option of the free will he has granted us. We have the ability to live life how we see fit, so if he were to intervene with the evil in the world, he’d be breaking his own promise. While we see all this evil, it’s comforting to know our God is also merciful. The Bible tells us in the Old Testimate that “…God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your Fathers that he swore to them.” (Deut 4:31). One of the concerns I had when I first began to follow Jesus was regarding the desires of my flesh. I was drawn to pornography, music with dark undertones, and alcohol. As I read this next verse, it brought me such comfort. I, myself, have experienced this and it is SO great! 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so you can endure it.” Following Jesus is not easy, but how comforting is it to know that if we are ever struggling, all we have to do is talk to Jesus?
From this, our Bible tells us the Christian God is faithful, patient, loving, good, and merciful.

From here, we move into what it means to “follow Jesus”. Jesus talks about this to his disciples in Mark chapter 8. In verse 34, he tells his disciples “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s sake will save it.” Studying this verse, Jesus tells us to do three things. First, we are to deny ourselves. This means we must do away with our old selves, deny the desires of our flesh, and trade it in for thoughts and desires from God. Though this sounds tough, with the strength from God, it becomes a bit more bearable. Since God is patient he will not expect you to change your life at the drop of a dime. Secondly, he tells us to pick up our cross. Now, everyone may interpret this portion of that verse differently, but if we look at the end of the verse, it can give us a clue. “..But whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s sake will save it.” In my opinion, this means we should be willing to lay down our lives just as Jesus did for us. This took me personally a while to be okay with, so if you are unsure at first, please know I was too! Finally, he says to follow him. So what does this mean? Peter is very helpful with this in 1 Peter 2:21 where he says “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps.” Ephesians 5:1-2 almost mimics this verse, as well. Here, it states “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” These two verses are very clear that we should look up to our heavenly Father, and use Jesus’s earthly life as our guide. This, I believe is what it means to follow Jesus., to be an example of who He is. Next, let me tell you about the greatest gift God has for you…his love!

God’s love for us is evident in Jesus. John talks about this quite a few times throughout his books. The most memorized Bible verse among Christians is John 3:16; “For God so love the world he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” John repeats this in 1 John 4:9-11, but he adds a little more to it. He says “This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” This is actually in reference to the final commandment Jesus gave his disciples in Mark 12:31 as well as John 13:34. The price Jesus paid on that cross for us was out of love. Jesus could have very well proven his innocence, but he chose not to. He chose not to because he knew it had to be done in order to reconcile sinners with God. Because of his sacrifice and love for us, though we are spiritually dead from our trespasses (or sin), through Christ we are alive. It is by His grace we are saved (Ephesians 2:4-5). Moving onto the book of Romans in 8:37-40, the apostle Paul explains how nothing can separate us from the love that God has for us. Isn’t that a beautiful thought? No matter how bad you mess up, or how many times you stumble in your faith, God is always going to love you. Even you, as an unbeliever, he loves. The Old Testament also has a few verses about his love. Going back to Psalm 107:1, it tells us his love endures forever. Following that, Isaiah 54:10, states His love is unfailing. As a recap, we learn HIs love is great, inseparable, unfailing, and endures forever. Could you think of a greater love than that?

Trust me when I say this, the first few months I got back into Christianity were rough. Building that faith back up took a while, and it was not easy. I will, however, say this- following God has been by far the best decision I’ve ever made. Once I dedicated my life to Him, he opened up doors I never thought were possible. Not only this, but my desires are so much different. The old me used to want to go out and party for fun. Now, I blog and research Bible topics for fun. He has also restored peace in my heart and I no longer have this emptiness, and heaviness on my shoulders. The weight of sin is so very heavy. The moment you turn your life over to God, your soul will thank you. Us Christians are not perfect by any means. We respond negatively sometimes, maybe even seemingly forcing our views on you. Rest assured, it is not our intention. But once you find a true sense of freedom, it is hard to keep the secret to yourself! I’m not giving you an ultimatum or anything, but I promise you if you follow Jesus, He will take you further than you ever dreamt possible! You will not regret your decision one bit.