My Testimony

I grew up in the average, middle class American home. My parents taught me and my siblings to treat others as we would want to be treated, and they taught us to respect adults and authority. They took us to church regularly, and we appeared at many events that were put on by the churches we attended. Obviously, I was not perfect; anyone babysitter knows that kids can be cruel, mischievous, and disobedient. As a child, I disobeyed my parents, I fought with my siblings, and I did not always treat others kindly. At one point in my childhood, I finally realized that I was not perfect, and I disliked this very much. I had learned from my parents and my church that this supreme being, God, knew all about me and all about my mistakes and imperfections. I learned that although he knew everything about me, the good and the bad, he loved me just the same. I had learned through experience that consequences occur from my mistakes and offenses against other people. Just as if I had hurt a friends feelings, and they forgave me before I even apologized, I found out that God did not keep track of my many failed attempts at perfection; He wanted me to know that he had forgotten all my mistakes a long time ago. Since learning this, acknowledging it, and experience it first hand, I have seen a change in my attitude and outlook on life. I no longer strive to be perfect all the time only to fail, but I strive to learn more about that one person who cares so much about me, God. Although, as a teenager and now an adult, I have gone back many times to relying on other material and menial things, I am dissatisfied and disappointed when these concepts fail me. The one person who never disappoints, however, is the one I come back to. God is the one thing I place my hope in, because I know for sure that even when everything is messed up around me, he will not say, “I told you so!” or “well, good luck!”  He will welcome me, comfort me, and help me along the way; when all is said and done, I will spend the rest of my life, after this life, with Him.