My Testimony

This same day 8 years ago, I accepted Jesus to come into my life and be my savior!! (June 25, 2012) So I thought what a better day to share my story with you than today! I was always raised attending church on Sundays, with God being a great part of our home and lives. My grandfather was a preacher and my mother was raised in a church where she met my father. Hearing about Jesus and what He has done for me was something I always grew up learning about. When I got a little older, my friends and I were going to each others’ churches vacation bible school (VBS). We had the best time over the summer! We were taught so many important stories and truths that are so crucial to the foundations of our faith.

I am a pretty curious person and I always have been! I love to talk and ask questions. I remember one day asking my mom about the Jesus/Bible, then she and my dad sat me down in our living room on the couch and we began to read scriptures together. We talked about what it means to give your life to Jesus, what He did for me on the cross, how to ask Him to come into my heart and forgive my sins. As my parents walked me through making sure I understood what being saved meant, they led me in a prayer to ask Jesus into my heart! This was the best feeling to know that God loves me and forgives me of my sins so I can have a relationship with Him! I was so excited and could not wait to tell my family/ friends.

Before my life with Christ, I was so caught up in the wrong things. I was not acting crazy, but I was not living life differently. I lived for myself, for my desires, and what I thought was important. A year later, my sister Kinsley decided to accept Jesus into her life. We attended the baptism class together and were able to follow in baptism with our church family. I knew that I had a relationship with Jesus and I knew to do my devotionals every day, but I started to just live life again.

As I got older, I began to feel a heavy heart to the sin in my life. I felt convicted after watching a movie called “War Room.” I saw how the lady in the movie was a Christian too. She loved God the same as me, yet she lived differently than I did. She spent so much time in prayer and in reading God's word. I wanted to follow in obedience this way, I wanted to take action as a Christian; choosing to walk in relationship with Jesus every single day, not just the days I wanted too. I started to dive into reading the Bible and striving to grow in that area.

During my 6th grade year, a group of friends and I were blessed to start a bible study group for girls at our school called “Girls of Grace.” Girls of Grace has been one of the biggest blessings in my life!! God has taught me so much and kept me growing in my walk to help teach other girls about our very loving father! This group has continued to grow (through the Lord of course) and will be at three campuses in the fall of 2020! God is so good! He has shown me His faithfulness, mercy, and love through GOG. My life since accepting Christ is different because I know that there is purpose in everything and it’s all for His glory! I still am learning about the Lord every day and He’s teaching me all the time, but I’m so glad to have a relationship with him!

I don’t want you to read this and think that when you ask Jesus into your life it’s going to be easy. I have failed God so many times that I cannot even keep a count, but to know that since I am a child of God I can come back in full repentance to Him and from Jesus to accept me, is the best thing. It doesn’t mean I go sin just because He will forgive me, but rather wanting to continue to know Him despite my failures. Also, I want you to know that I have messed up by not prioritizing God and choosing to put things before Him. However, when we ask Jesus to come into our lives, He gives us the Holy Spirit. It comes into the hearts of believers and convicts us of our wrongdoing to correct us.

Today, if you have never asked Jesus to be your Lord and the savior of your life, I want you to consider it. It has been and forever will be the best decision of my life. Christ gives your freedom, love, joy, and peace like nothing in this entire world can!! I pray that you might take a minute and read these scriptures; or maybe talk to God and see if this is something for you. I’m so grateful for eight years of my relationship with the Lord and I pray for you to have that today as well!

HOW CAN I BE SAVED:

• to be saved is a very simple, confession of your heart to our loving father. You can follow ABC’s

A: admit to God you're a sinner and ask Him to forgive you/ repent from sins.

B: believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and that Jesus is God’s son.

C: confess your faith in Jesus and choose to live your life for Him.

"If you confess with your mouth that 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" Romans 10:9

God loves you very much and He even sent His ONLY son to die for you (John 3:16) He tells us that EVERYONE has sinned and fallen short of His standards that is why we need Jesus (Romans 3:23) He also says if anyone calls on Him, they shall be saved (Romans 10:13)

Verses to see:

~Romans 10:9-12

~John 3:16

~Romans 3:22-24

~Acts 16:31

Feel free to message me if you ever want to chat about anything :) ♡Keatyn

khigdon04@gmail.com