Hal writes, "I was ten years old when I came to Christ. I knew then that I was a sinner and that Christ had died on the cross for my sins. There is no doubt in my mind that I was saved and forgiven that day. However, I didn't know that the cross had continuing power in my life, that it was not only the place where I was saved but also the place I should go to be continually sanctified.
Growing up, I believed that Jesus saved me, and it was my job to live the Christian life. As a teenager, I was exposed to pornography, and Satan used that to grab hold of my heart and hold me back from becoming the man God called me to be. All through high school and college and much of my adult life, I was a leader in my youth group and in my church but was still continually held hostage by pornography and impurity. I didn't once return to the cross for the power to overcome my sins, because I didn't know I could. I did the best I could with my own power and strength, but it was never enough. Eventually, I always fell again.
Last year, some of my sins became public, and the exposure almost cost me everything. I lost my job as an educator, and I almost lost my family. I had truly come to the end of myself and had no idea what to do. I had trusted in Christ to save me and done my best to follow Him, but I had failed repeatedly. One of my pastors reminded me that Jesus knew all of these sins I would commit over my entire life and died for me anyway. He didn't just forgive the sins I had committed up until age ten, but He forgave all of them, even the ones I haven't committed yet. The heaviness of that weighed on me, and for the first time in a long time, the weight of what Jesus did was on my heart.
My wife and I started seeing a marriage counselor who recommended I meet with a friend who suggested I go through Setting Captives Free's purity courses, so I did. In these lessons was the first time I saw that I needed to keep returning to the cross, day after day and that God would change my heart to desire the things that He does. I don't have to try to live a righteous life anymore. I just need to go back to the cross, remember what Jesus gave up for me, and ask Him to keep changing me into the man He has called me to be.
The last few months, I've been seeking God's face in a way I never have before. As a result, I am becoming a better husband and father. There are still hard days and hard conversations that we have to have, but they are worth it.
Every day I go back to the cross, and God gives me the grace and mercy and strength I need to get through that day, and He changes me little by little. His desires are becoming my desires, and I'm not trying to live righteously with my own strength anymore."
Question 8. What are your thoughts on this testimony? Did you identify if any way? Share your thoughts here:
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