Three Years On

Three years ago today (30/07/2015), I became a Christian. I love this day as it comes around each year, even more than I love my actual birthday. It is a day of celebration and joy for me, and it holds a special place in my heart. The life that was spiralling out of control and was I considered hopeless was transformed by the love and peace that comes from Jesus. What God has done in my life has been amazing, and I’m so grateful for the people that spent years investing in me and loving me through the good times and the bad, and who showed me Jesus without pressuring me to believe the same.

As I have spent the last few days reflecting on these past three years, I began to think of some of the things I have learnt. Some of these I learnt pretty early on, some I’ve learnt very, very recently, and some I’m definitely still learning. I haven’t got it all worked out. I don’t do these perfectly. And a lot of these are easier said than done, and I may never get them all right. BUT! Here are some of the things I’ve learnt:

• Your story is your story. It is sacred, it is precious, and it is yours. No one can take it from you, but you decide who you share it with. There doesn’t need to be any shame in any part of your story (easier said than done!), but you don’t have to share all of it with everyone. You choose who you share that sacred part of your life with, you decide who you trust, and you decide who’s earned the right to hear your story. And even then, some people will abuse that trust. But that isn’t on you. You’re amazing, and your story is too.
• God loves you for you. It isn’t dependent on anything you’ve done, anything you are doing, or anything you can do. It isn’t dependent on your faith status or commitment level or life choices. GOD STILL LOVES YOU. That’s that.
• God doesn’t love you more if you decide to become a Christian. God doesn’t have favourites. God is love, and God loves you.
• Being a Christian is such a privilege. It’s SUCH a special thing. I would definitely recommend it 😉
• As cliche as this sounds, faith is about a journey. The highs and lows will be inevitable. But our circumstances don’t change who God is. In the last three years, I’ve lost a close friend my age to cancer, a mentor of mine was diagnosed with MND, and I’ve received hate mail because I refused to be in an abusive relationship. BUT, I’ve had the privilege to hear people’s stories, pray with people that want to commit their lives to Jesus, encourage young people to dig deeper into their faith, and love people in the best and worst times in their lives. Sometimes life sucks and is unfair and sometimes bad things happen and sometimes it’s flipping awesome. And through it all, God is still God.
• “Not all Christians” is such an accurate phrase. Not all are loving, and not all are hateful. Not all are kind, not all are horrible. Not all are supportive, not all will abandon you. Not all Christians use their interpretation of the Bible to justify their discrimination or intolerance.  That being said, there is a better word to describe Christians – “NONE”. None are perfect. None have all the answers. None have their lives all together. We are a group of broken, messy people who really don’t have their crap together, but trust in a God who brings healing and restoration. And that’s pretty cool.
• Labels aren’t always the best idea when people are involved. Labels are used in almost every aspect of our lives, and sometimes they’re great. But sometimes they suck, and they’re used to discriminate, to hate, or to divide communities. And I say this not only with groups of people, but also with different theologies. There are so many, and labels are really not always the best way to navigate our faiths.
• And finally, you don’t have to agree with people or understand people to love them. You can have different backgrounds, different beliefs (dare I say different religions), different upbringings, different theologies. And you can still love.

So here it is. Some of my lessons from the last few years. It’s been a big three years, not really ever easy, but so fulfilling. Here’s to the next three years (and hopefully many more) of this crazy adventure!