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Grace Chang
Like many Christians I know, I was born into a Christian family. I went to church and attended Sunday school every Sunday. I loved the Bible stories that my Sunday school teachers would tell me. I also loved being a Christian, because I thought that being a Christian could make my life perfect in every way. But soon enough, I figured out that no matter how hard you try, you would never be able to make your life perfect, not even if you were a Christian and went to Sunday school every week. When I finally reached middle school, I felt a little bit of loneliness. Even though I had many great friends, I wasn・t sure if those were my real friends or not. I began to have the feeling that my friends might be talking behind my back sometimes, without me knowing it. I wanted so much to have a real friend, I wanted to be loved. I also felt a lack of significance; I wanted everything to be perfect. But things didn・t go too well as I had expected, I started to feel unloved. I felt as if my parents didn・t love me anymore, that maybe because the reason was I wasn・t the perfect child that they had expected and wanted to have.
One day, when I was in Sunday school, I heard a Sunday school teacher talk about how God is our real friend. My Sunday school teacher told me that whenever we feel lonely, we can always remember that there is God. Because God loves us so much and wants us to be happy everyday, He tells us that He is our friend too, not just any old friend, but a true friend, a friend who we can always look up to for help, and a friend who can comfort us whenever we feel sad and lonely. I also learned that God is our one true friend that will always be with us, I also learned in Awana, that God loves everyone who is living on earth, no matter if you are a Christian or not, or if you・re a murderer or not, God will always love us. All of a sudden, I felt as though there was somebody who at last, is willing to be my true friend forever. I gradually began to feel loved. After a few years, the Children・s Ministry leader came and asked me if I had let Jesus Christ become my Savior and Lord yet. I replied I hadn・t yet, and there she explained to me about the gift of eternal life when you let Jesus into your heart, and how you can be forgiven by the Lord. She told me that if I open the door of my heart, Jesus will be willing to come inside, and take over my life for me. I decided to let Jesus Christ into my heart that day, and felt that if I really loved Jesus that much, then I should try to have a closer relationship with Him.
As I grew, I started to have more trouble. I had trouble with homework, and had trouble at home sometimes too. But through it all, I know that God was watching over me. I know that God loves me so much; that He wouldn・t let me go through something more than I can bear. I used to feel unloved, thinking that I had no true friend, but because I now know that Jesus loves me, I also know that God will always be my true friend forever, and that He will always be willing to forgive me when I confess to Him what I did wrong. Now that I consider Jesus as an important part of my life, I have a notepad filled with questions, asking if I had made God an important part of my everyday life, if I had prayed to God everyday, and if I had been forgiving to others, just as God is forgiving to me. I am certain now, that I will truly have eternal life forever.