How I became a Christian

I will start this blog by telling you how I became a Christian. I was born on a cold winter's night in the country of Germany, and soon after my arrival my parents had me christened into the Lutheran faith. They took me to church every Christmas and Easter, and as a teenager I attended Bible classes and was confirmed. In my teens, however, religious morals didn't suit me. After all, I had been taught about an evolutionary process that leaves all things to chance; so who was the church to make rules about right or wrong? I was convinced that science opposes the existence of absolute standards and decided to determine my own way. At age nineteen I met a young man from a far-away country and fell in love. We were married after two short months, and after another two years we left for his home in Australia. The Lutheran church and its ways had been completely discarded.
Ten years passed and life was good. At age thirty-one I had two small children, my husband had started a successful communications business, and I was practicing as a naturopath and clinical hypnotherapist. And then it happened: One day, two lovely ladies from New Tribes Mission came to see me as clients and, being curious, I asked them about their faith. I had turned to New Age concepts and joined the Rosicrucian Order, but I was always interested in the beliefs of others.
One of the ladies produced a little black Bible and read this verse: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him has everlasting life." I didn't object to a God of love but didn't really understand what that verse meant. And then she continued with a verse about sin, reading that "no one is righteous because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." "Stop right there," I responded, chafing against this accusation. "I'm not a sinner! I'm not a liar or a thief or a murderer - to the contrary, I try to help people and be nice to them!" But my client was wise and didn't argue. Instead, she read from Isaiah chapter 53 that "all of us like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him (meaning Christ) the iniquity (sin) of us all."
Thank God for His faithful servants! The Holy Spirit used this portion of Scripture to convict me of sin. I felt so uncomfortable that I couldn't get these women out of the door quickly enough. I tried to forget about the whole thing, but it didn't work. The thoughts about sin kept returning, and I soon realised that sin was essential SELF-WILL and therefore rebellion against God. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that I had a dilemma on my hands: If this God of the Bible was real, then my present condition would send me to Hell. I wondered how I could know whether He really existed, and finally I just asked Him to show me, not knowing what to expect.
Well, I neither heard a voice nor did I have an ecstatic experience, but by the end of that evening I could no longer carry my burden of guilt. I fell on my knees and cried out to God, shedding tears of shame and sorrow for causing Him so much pain. I realised that Jesus had suffered and died for ME - it became very personal - His life for mine. But there were also tears of joy because I was now forgiven, my debt was paid, and I was set free to live a new life in God. This is how I was born again and became a child of God on the evening of March 28, 1983.
I hope that this testimony will help to show someone else the way...
See you in heaven (hopefully), Margaret

Comments

Hi Dr. Lepke,
I found your site! Yay! I found it a blessing to read about your salvation testimony. Praise the Lord!
Well, I am going to look around here some more. Thanks!

~Jessica D.

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