Before Jesus Changed My Life
Church is all I've known my whole life. My dad, Garrett Hufford, is an elder at Veritas, and my earliest memories are from Sunday School. My parents made our home life centered around Jesus as well, and they are shining examples of Christ's love to everyone. I knew a lot about Jesus, and so many adults poured into me in my younger years. But all anyone can get from people is information, not a change of heart. I was proud of my Biblical knowledge and thought that equated to a saving faith. Only knowing ABOUT Jesus is not a personal relationship, though. I often struggled with needing to be in control, believing that if I could just gain enough knowledge, I would be able to change my circumstances. I was afraid of death, both others' deaths and my own. I KNEW Heaven and Hell were real, but I didn't have faith, which is "the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). I didn't live as if they were real, and deep down, I was scared of the unknown.
How Jesus Changed My Life
Around my 8th-grade year, through my connection group leaders, parents, and the countless others who cared so much about me, my heart softened towards what the Gospel actually meant for me and what my life was meant to look like if I truly did follow Jesus. I don't have a specific moment when I was overwhelmed with the presence of the Holy Spirit, but as my dad once told me, "the Holy Spirit has to soften your heart before He can heal it." Instead of being proud of my pretend righteousness, I mourned the sins I committed, and God opened my eyes to my shortcomings. What solidified my conviction took place at Youth Camp during Freshman year. The theme that year was "holiness over happiness." I'd been settling for a false version of what "goodness" meant, and thought that "good" was "good enough for God." But the holiness God requires of me is nothing I can gain in my own efforts, only a change that the Holy Spirit enacted in me. God sent His Son, the greatest sacrifice, to rescue us, not only from the consequences of sin, but from sin's hold on us! Without Jesus, as Romans 7:24 says, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" But with Jesus, Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This is by none of my own doing: I was dead in my sins, and dead people can do nothing. But Jesus, in his death and resurrection, put my sin on Himself, paying the debt I couldn't pay, and put His righteousness on me, so that I can be seen as blameless. Ephesians 2:10 says that we "are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." I am a new creation in Christ, and my response is to live as a "living sacrifice" to God, to obey out of love for the Lord and as a witness to others of the change in my heart. God rescuing me from the clutches of my sin and pride was no less miraculous than God saving anyone else, and that realization gave me REAL hope!
My Life After Jesus Saved Me
I'm not perfect, and I still struggle with sin on this side of eternity. But sin no longer has the allure it used to. I am growing to hate my sin, and not through my efforts, but through God's work in me. When people look at me, I want them to see someone who is an ambassador for Christ in a fallen world (2 Corinthians 5:20). The joy I have is unfailing because I no longer have to fear the unknown. What God has started, He will complete. The sanctification that is taking place in me right now will lead to glorification in Heaven. Charles Spurgeon once said, "God never sets a man wanting for mercy without intending to give it." God set a wanting for mercy in me, and has delivered! I strive to embody that truth always, staying faithful to the God who was faithful to me first.