My mom was a Christian and I grew up hearing the Gospel. As a child I believed in what He did for me, but as I grew up my walk with Him was more like a rollercoaster. My performance became the biggest motivator in my life, and I focused most of my attention on working hard at school and academic achievements. This was great for my GPA, but not for my relationship with God.
Once I got into high school I saw a couple people who were really on fire for God and I envied their passion. On a few different occasions I attended Christian retreats, and came back excited and feeling closer to Him. But with no discipleship and no fellowship I’d end up right back where I was before within a matter of weeks. I saw that the lives of people who had a passion for God were different, but at that time I wasn’t willing to change, I more just hoped it would happen. By my senior year, I reached a point where I decided that I could do it on my own, I thought “I don't need my parents and I don't need God” (Bad Idea). I became more and more independent and successful in my academic career, becoming an officer of multiple organizations and was at the top of my class. From the outside I was a “good” person, and I compared my life with others. I didn’t think that my sin was as bad as like a drug addict’s, so I didn’t see that I needed to repent. But the Bible says that “there is none who does good, not even one.”
Before I left for college my mom had gotten a campus minister’s number from a few different people, and wanted me to start a Bible study; I was not that interested. However, once I got to college my wall of independence was torn down. I went to church, and was shocked to see so many people who had a true desire to worship God and live their lives for Him. I knew I needed to start doing a Bible study! In the Bible study I realized that Jesus gave 100% of His life, and so I needed to also. That included my plans, goals, and aspirations. I had been afraid to give those over to the Lord, because I didn’t want to lose them but I realized that it didn’t matter if He changed my plan, because His plan for me was bigger and better than anything I could have imagined for my life. I was done trying to do things my own way, and was ready to follow Him no matter what it cost me. So September 8, 2010, I said “I quit!” I repented and gave Jesus that place as Lord in my life! In March I went on the Spring Break outreach to UCF and even got to help lead a girl to the Lord!
~ Brittany
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Click on a students' name to see a previous Testimony of the Month: Carlos, Ali, James, Dan, Jen, Zac, Andreas, Danielle, Bryce, Sara, Scott