19/08/2017
Being born and raised in a family that practiced witchcraft, every year, around the new year; I would go to a farm with my parents to buy live animals and slaughter them, sacrificing them to dead ancestors and the devil. In the demonic world, one year equals one day, and weโd sacrifice animals for them to eat because theyโd been โtired from the whole day.โ
Weโd sometimes have missionaries come knock on our doors and tell us about โthe way, the truth, and the life.โ But my parents rejected them, saying, โSorry, we worship the dead.โ When I was convicted of the truth, I was removed from the dark during a time when I wouldnโt allow myself to see the light.
Righteousness comes from God alone.
After accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior, I had a big impact on my four younger siblings. All four of them eventually came to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior too! I never gave up on spreading the gospel even after being condemned by my siblings who said I was โtoo obsessed with Jesus.โ I was just like Paul. My heart changed after seeing the light. I had a fire for spreading the gospel message and caring for those who were still in the darkness. Second Corinthians 5:20 says, โNow then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christโs behalf, be reconciled to Godโ (NKJV). I had become an ambassador of Jesus Christ, and He is using me to help others be reconciled in Him.
My parents were angry, unhappy. But they saw how God worked not just in my life but in my siblingsโ lives as well as we came to believe in God. John 3:19 says, โ โAnd this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evilโ โ (NKJV). My parents saw the light of Jesus through us, but because they were so proud in playing with the dead, they refused to choose to walk in the light.
But the beautiful thing about this is, while I too was proud, God never gave up because He loved me too much! My parents have their own opportunity to turn away from evil and choose the light too! So how can sinful humans be made right before a holy and just God? Well, we canโt. Righteousness comes from God alone.
The only thing we can do is choose to be in the light, and He will place us where we need to speak truth. We canโt even place ourselves hereโweโre too sinful. But we can lean on Him to place us where we need to be. When you are a true child of God, people see your fruit as the tree of life, and they seek after what you have. Galatians 4:12 says, โBrethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at allโ (NKJV).