Though it may come as a surprise, I’ve been a Christian for most of my life. As a kid I was raised in a Christian home, had Christian fellowship and friends, I went to church and even attended Christian schools through much of my education. I accepted Christ as my savior when I was 7 as most church kids do but it wasn’t until a school Chapel service at 14, where God really revealed Himself to me and I started to really understand Him that I truly gave my life to Him. All in all I was a pretty good Christian kid. I stayed out of trouble, and never questioned God and my role as His servant.

As I became older, Satan really turned the heat up on me and began luring me into sin. I guess these were the growing pains of anyone completely raised in Christianity from birth. My story is far from unique. I dabbled in sin and I won’t lie...I enjoyed it. It was downright fun at times. The funny thing was that no matter how much of a hold Sin had on me, God was always there and always tugging back on my heart to keep me from the edge. I knew the things I did were wrong and even though I was pig-headed and did them anyway, God still held onto my heart, reminding me that I was His. There was always a line I refused to cross and God was the One keeping me grounded enough in my faith to not cross it. I watched many of my friends fall from faith and cross that line but I never gave up on my Christianity...I just kept turning the volume down so to speak. Spiritually, I was putting my fingers in my ears and chanting “NAH NAH NAH NAH! I CAN’T HEAR YOU! NAH NAH NAH!”

Over the last few years, I’ve been becoming revitalized in my Christianity and essentially “turning up the volume” on my faith again. My Uncle Ron’s passing had a huge impact on this. He was a strong Christian and never shied away from living as one. At his funeral, people talked candidly about his strong faith and what a testimony his life had been. I began to compare my life to his. Now, I’m no fool...I know Ron was a sinner and probably did some pretty stupid things in his day, but he still had a great testimony for the Lord....And what did I have? Not much. I had been living very selfishly for years and began to realize that where folks knew my uncle as a Christian, I wasn’t too sure people would know me as one and that bothered me. I am a child of Christ! I’m supposed to be set apart from this world but I spent too much time trying to be cool or look cool, that I lost sight of my duty. I was a dull Christian.

God still had hold of my heart, and even though I was slowly starting to come back around, It took the death of my favorite uncle to really shake my faith and wake me up again. I only hope Ron’s passing had the same effect on others as well.

Rebooting the hard-drive of my faith hasn’t been easy. I’ve had do do some major defragging. There are alot of glitches and there always have been and will be, but at least now I’m acknowledging them and trying to fix them (with the Lord’s help). I’ve almost always kept up with my Bible devotions (Our Daily Bread devotional), thanks to my mom and grandma. I even kept them when I wasn’t being the best Christian but now, I’m really starting to study them again rather than just read through them out of some sort of obligation. Do I retain everything? No...but I’m making more of a conscious effort and learning more every day. I’m seeking God and the things of God more and the more I seek Him the more He reveals to me. I find it encouraging that He’s doing much of the same work in my family and friends who were basically in the same boat as me. Not turning their backs on God but not always living for Him. It’s a revival and it’s a beautiful thing!

I don’t want my life to end one day and only be known for my Great Big Pissed Off Bear comic strips or my huge GI JOE collection. I want people to know me for my Christian testimony like people did of my uncle. I want my faith in God and all that He is to stand out in me as I try to live my life as Christ did. Does that mean I want folks to remember me as the most awesome, wickedly cool, Christian that ever lived. No. I just want people to see Christ reflected in me and in my life. They can remember the Bear and the Joes too but all that is meaningless to me if they don’t see Christ in me. That would mean that I wasn’t living for Him...If that’s the case then what’s the point?