Kayla's Testimony

Growing up in a Christian home, I kind of took my testimony for granted. My church would have these amazing speakers that spoke of drastic, life-changing experiences they had after turning to God. There were stories of coming from the depths of addiction to a new life of freedom, or being in a life-threatening situation and coming out unharmed thanks to God’s mercy. All of these interesting accounts of God’s incredible power; compared to these dramatic stories, I felt ordinary. I felt like my life was too simple and easy that my testimony did not have as much power.

But these are lies from the enemy. God uses each of our lives in a unique and specific way to bring honor and glory to Him and His kingdom. I hope you gain some encouragement through my testimony of what God’s done in my life.

As I mentioned, I grew up in a Christian home. I am so thankful for my loving family; my parents are strong believers and if I woke up early in the morning, I would often hear my parents in their bedroom praying over my sister and me. As a child, I did all the obligatory “good Christian kid” things: I was an angel in the Christmas plays, I went to the weekly children’s choir meetings (even though some nights my parents had to drag me there kicking and screaming), and I went to all the summer Bible study youth camps.

I received Christ at 8 years old; my dad knelt with me on our living room floor and helped me pray for Jesus to forgive me of my sins and make me a new creation in him. I prayed this and believed it, but at the time and for years later, I did not fully surrender my life to Christ and allow Him to mold me.

I went on living a “good” life. I strayed from using curse words, I went to church twice a week, I volunteered at all the church activities, I even led a few FCA (fellowship of Christian athletes) Bible studies at my middle school. On the outside I seemed like a “good” Christian. On the inside, however, I was in a spiritual slumber. I was just going through the motions. I was living a moralistic life, trapping myself in rules and ritualistic behavior. In my mind, as long as I did this and this and this, I was a believer.

Thankfully, I have grown from this mentality. And a side-note: we are all going to have different struggles in our faith and doubts. We are sinners. We are not perfect. That’s the entire reason we need Jesus!

God gives us freedom through His son Jesus Christ. Living in His love with the Holy Spirit inside us gives us freedom to pursue the Lord with joy without feeling like we have to follow a set of rules. My love of Christ makes me want to live for Him.

About 3 years ago, I started college. I feel like the start of my life as an adult, as a college student, marked the true beginning of when I actually started to invest real time praying, studying my Bible, and having community with other believers. I had people that were discipling me and investing in me and that made all the difference.

I kindly let go of friends I’d clutched to that, in reality, were not building me in the spirit. I grew even more when I started attending my current church and met some amazing friends that inspired me to seek God even more.

I’ve learned that being a Christian—a little Christ—is not found in living a moralistic and strict life, but living in the freedom in pursuance of the Holy Spirit. I have so much joy in this life I get to live serving God.

Recently, I transferred to a university to finish out my Bachelor’s degree. God has continued to use this next step in my journey to grow me in His love and pursue Him deeper. I’ve been introduced to some amazing God-fearing friends and faced new challenges that serve to strengthen my faith in God. Looking back, it’s so evident to me that in these times I felt my life and testimony were boring, God was using area of my life for His glory and to draw me closer to Him—and that is a far from boring thing to experience.

If you pull anything of meaning out of my testimony, I want it to be this: God uses each of us uniquely, if we let Him. We are each sinners in need of grace. God takes us where we are and grows us through faith in Him. We just have to trust Him and let go of our preconceived notions and ideas.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17