Naomi

Changed focus
I was born into a Christian family and each week went along to church. I was not interested in what was being said, although there were times when it would suddenly hit me that I was not living in a way that pleased God. This would trouble me for a while but I would soon forget about it.
When I was 12 years old, I went on a Christian camp in South Wales. Each day there was a verse from the Bible that was explained to us. On one day the verse was: ‘What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?’ (Matthew 16.26).
The speaker explained that we are all sinful, and so we deserve to be, and will be, punished by God for our sins if we are trusting in anything but Jesus Christ. I was frightened because I knew that I was living to please myself and if I were to die at that moment then I too would be punished.

God’s promise
But I also knew, from my Christian upbringing that Jesus the Son of God lived a perfect life, died as a punishment for the sins he had not committed, was resurrected, and is now alive in heaven. So if we ask God to forgive us our sins, he will do so, as Jesus Christ has already borne the penalty of sin. This is what I did after that meeting.
And since then? At first I really struggled because I knew that as a Christian you became a new creation but I felt exactly the same as I did before I had asked God to forgive me, so I thought that he had not answered my prayer. But I was led to Romans 10:13 which says: ‘For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved’. I know that I have called on the name of the Lord and I also know that he has saved me.
As a Christian I am still myself, but my focus in life and desires have changed to living to please God rather than myself. I sometimes still slip back into living for myself rather than seeking God first. But each time God has so graciously brought me back to himself as he has promised that: ‘whosoever comes to me I will in no wise cast out’ (John 6.37).