I used to live a self-focused life, and I did what pleased me.  I was kind to others because I believed I’d get something in return.  I loved life and thought I was living it to the fullest.  I thought I was a pretty good person, but I was living the exact opposite of the way God wanted me to live.  God created the Heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1), including human life.  Since He is the Creator, He is the one we all are responsible to.  I didn't believe this, but what I thought didn't change what is TRUTH.  Because I was living the opposite of what God wanted, I was sinning.  I found pleasure in the very things God hates.  He hates sin because He is holy, meaning perfect, and calls us His created beings to be Holy as well (1 Peter 1:16).  Because of this, I was separated from God, and yet, I still pursued sin because of its passing pleasures.
       
Since God is the Creator, and I was responsible to Him, my sin deserved His punishment.  The Bible tells us God is just, meaning He will judge fairly (Romans 6:23).  He can’t just look over my sins because I was an okay person compared to others.  I was going to stand before God as an individual to be judged (Heb 9:28), and in comparison to a Holy God, I would be found guilty.  Therefore, I would pay eternally, in Hell, for the sins I committed against an eternal God. (2 Thess 1:8-9).
       
While this may sound hopeless, and it is from a human standpoint, God stepped in and did something wonderful.  Because every single person is in the same position I was in (imperfect in front of a Holy God), God had to do something to take care of our sins.  Thankfully, God is a loving God who wanted to provide a solution for the separation between us and Him.   For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).  Jesus, being God in human form, came and lived a perfect life for us, since we are unable to.  Jesus suffered and died on the cross, taking on the wrath of God that we would have deserved to pay in Hell for eternity.
     
In 2006, this became my reality when I was invited to Grace Community Church (Sun Valley, CA).  Since I was raised Catholic, this was my first time in a bible-teaching church.  At this point in my life, I even questioned God’s existence.  I heard TRUTH for the first time.  I kept coming to church every week, but I also continued living in my sin.  However, hearing the Bible preached, I started to realize my eternal state.  I was learning about salvation, that Jesus was the only way to Heaven (John 14:6).  I learned that Jesus paid the penalty for sin on the cross and proved Himself God by rising from the dead on the third day (1 Peter 1:3).  I started to feel the weight of my sin and the guilt and knew that to receive this gift of salvation, I needed to change.  I needed to live a life that would please God, but without faith, it is impossible to please Him (Heb. 11:6).  
There was one evening (now a few months into attending GCC) that I realized to live the way God wanted me to live, I needed to “become a Christian,” but I still wasn’t too sure what that meant or what that entailed.  After a couple of hours of Googling, I landed upon many “prayers of repentance.”  And I thought, “This isn’t it. I just read several of these, and it didn’t do a thing for me.”  This couldn’t be the answer to all my problems.  I was discouraged, but I went back to church to learn more.
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On Sunday, August 6, 2006, I once again found myself at GCC attending a morning church service.  This morning was a little different; there was a guest preacher who was teaching on Mark 1:16-20, titled, “Drop Everything and Follow Him.”  As I sat there listening and taking notes, I couldn’t help but feel singled out; I felt like he was talking directly to me.  He was answering questions that had been lingering in my head and exhorting me to do things I knew I was supposed to but had been avoiding. When Jesus says to “follow Me,” there are only two options: obedience or disobedience. This was a direct command. This was it; this was what I needed to hear and what I needed to do.  I knew He’d give me everything I needed to live a godly life to the glory of God (2 Peter 1:3).  So, right then and there, I asked God to forgive every sin that I ever committed against Him, and I put my faith in the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus!  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). That was the moment I was saved by God’s grace (Eph. 2:8).
       
God was immediately at work in my life to live the way He had made me to live (Phil. 2:13).  One of the first evidence of the work He was doing in my life was stopping my vulgar language and stopping my desire for the sinful lifestyle I was leading.  God had also given me a desire to know Him more through reading the Bible and listening to more sermons to help me understand His Word better.  He had given me a sacrificial love towards kids that had never been in my heart before.  I started serving the church by getting involved and having accountability to the church (Rom. 12:10-11).  While God was blessing me, He was also taking me through trials, which, although they were tough, were able to draw me closer to depend on Him.  My love for God and others has since grown the more and more I get to know Him through what He has revealed of Himself in the Bible.  I have a strong desire to follow His commandments and do the work He has set before me all the days of my life. (Eph. 2:10)