Before Christ, I had many different struggles. Growing up in the Catholic church, I always believed in God but I struggled with depression, anxiety, rebellion and authority issues. I was very focused on my career, and often strived to feel important and successful to fill the gaping hole of a lack of identity.
In college, I ended up meeting someone my sophomore year of college that convinced me to doubt my faith and made me feel dumb for believing in God, pointing to my sin struggles as evidence for Christianity being full of hypocrisy and a hoax in general. This led me down a dark path, in which I doubted my faith and beliefs, and continued to fill the God- sized hole in my life with drinking and other worldly things. I eventually reached a point where out of desperation I began asking friends and family why they believed in God, and was researching religion constantly. I felt like I was trying to find the truth, no matter what that may be, and I read books and watched testimonies on YouTube. I eventually stumbled upon a testimony posted on YouTube by Steven Bancarz, a Christian YouTuber, and it was so compelling that I was forever changed, and knew in my heart that I had finally accepted Jesus as Lord by faith.
After this, I don’t recall what led me there, but I remember buying my first Bible and I started reading it and attending church. Piece by piece, God has been restoring and redeeming my life and helping me become the person He created me to be. My life isn’t perfect, but he has given me purpose, identity, peace, and joy. My struggles don’t define me, but my identity as a Child of God defines me. The decision to walk with God and this journey has been the most incredible experience I’ve ever had, and definitely the best decision I ever have and ever will make.