Whenever I stop and ask myself why I
chose to follow Christ and why I still tell people I am a Christian in spite of
the negativity associated with the religion, some benefits about being one
immediately come to mind.
First of all, believing in Christ
helped me discover my hidden potentials, overcome my fears and do things I thought
were impossible. For example, I used to think I wasn’t the marrying type, that
I wasn’t pretty enough to be liked by a man. I didn’t even believe I would be
happy to be in a relationship with one! Seriously, it was once my prayer item
for God to help me open my heart to men, to become vulnerable and stop seeing
them merely as competition, a threat or some species not worthy of my trust.
It’s a long story but God eventually answered my prayer and gave my heart a
huge overhaul. My marriage, like all marriages, has its ups and downs but I am
pretty much happy married to a man. I also used to think I would never like doing
“homy” things but many times, I find God just telling me to get out of my
comfort zone and not be afraid to engage in new experiences – to welcome
change, to see new things or see the same things with fresh eyes. In a span of
four years after I arrived in America, I have learned to do a handful things I
never thought I would learn: sew curtains; paint; drive a car and a tractor at
times; take care of animals; build a pig pen gate; plant seeds and watch them
grow and actually eat them; cook for my family and for many people at times;
bear a child and keep him alive; start a fire and keep it going ;do face
painting on children’s faces (while their parents were watching closely) and
many other things. I don’t mean to brag. I just want to boast about God who has
been my encourager at times when I wasn’t so sure about myself or what I was
doing.
Christianity has also helped me make
wiser decisions in life. There was a time in my university life when I made a
huge mistake – big enough that I thought about just packing up and going home –
even though I only had a few semesters left to graduate, even though it meant
losing the chance to finally get a Bachelor’s degree. However, before I could
get a plane ticket home, I met with one of my good spiritual mentors. She
shared a Bible verse with me that instantly made me decide to keep going and
stay. About two years after that, I finally got my degree. One Bible verse that
changed the course of my life.
Being a Christian also affirms my
self-worth. I was bought with a price – with nothing less than the very life of
God’s Son. I am unconditionally loved and always remembered. Generally, I feel
like I don’t have to prove myself, that I am free to succeed and fail, to keep
trying, to love and lose, to laugh and weep, to be joyful and grieve, to doubt,
to question, to reason and yet be unconditionally loved. I also know that in
times of failure and defeat, I can always run to God and He will always accept
me.
With Christ, my life has a deeper,
more profound meaning and purpose. Like most people, I go through different
trials and phases of depression but because God’s plan for my life is larger
than any of those things, I find myself always seeing the rainbow or finally
seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Certain sad and absurd events seem
to make sense. Certain horrible memories of the past seem to eventually and
softly fade to nothing until they don’t hurt or cause a feeling of shame
anymore. Mundane and random day to day events seem bearable, if not exciting
because they are all tied to God’s good purpose. In fact, because of the many
ways God has led me to go out of my comfort zone or go through a phase of
difficulty, I am able to discover certain skills and talents I didn’t know I
had or desires and dreams I realized were worth pursuing.
Lastly, following Christ helps me
forgive others – both those from my past and present, to refuse to hold
grudges, to give the benefit of the doubt, to simply let go because doing so
will not be in vain. God is watching and He is taking note. In fact, I guess
that’s one of the most encouraging qualities of Christianity – the fact that
someday all loose ends will be tied, all plots will have a resolution and all
the dots will be connected because God is taking note.
