How Jesus Changed My Life

When I was a young man, although coming from what some would say was a privileged background and a good family, somehow deep inside there was a terrible insecurity, a deep loneliness, an inability to get on with either myself or others, a great void in my heart. Whatever the causes, not long after I left school this led to a string of mental breakdowns as I struggled as an immature person to cope with adult life. 

Sadly, I briefly got deceived by the sect of the “Moonies” (followers of Sun Myung Moon, a false Christ) and this led to my first mental breakdown. Treatment included electro convulsive therapy and anti-psychotic drugs.

Looking back I now  realise that I had missed certain stages we should all go through as we grow up and receive the unconditional love of our parents and learn to accept ourselves and receive a healthy view of ourselves as God intended.( Through all this time I only ever heard of Jesus in a religious way as a good example not that you could really know Him yourself. I had even got confirmed in the church of England but to my disappointment nothing happened.)

Thankfully God was on my case as He is always trying to seek and to save the lost!

In hospital I encountered Christian support groups and later at college I met up with a school friend who had become a Christian and through this I first began to hear that Jesus is alive and that you could know Him. I made a commitment to follow Jesus and was even  baptised  however it was not until  several years later and a further breakdown  that God led me back to a church that talked about and lived the gospel of power in our Lord Jesus Christ where I hoped I could get further help.

 In a church meeting, I called out for Jesus to really save me as I was so desperate because of the mess my mind was in and also the corruption and rebellion inside me that was bringing harm to myself and destroying relationships with those close to me. And He did literally save me, as the Bible says, ‘whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ and if I hadn’t, I can see now that I was on the way to a nasty end called hell.  

Gradually God through His love enabled me to turn my life around getting a job in the city, marrying my girlfriend and becoming a Dad, then learning to serve God, by helping in the church even singing in a gospel choir both at church and in services in prisons.

Today I can confidently say that I know Jesus is alive and by his Spirit somehow lives in my heart. I have had no more mental breakdowns and haven’t had to use any drugs for mental health in over 30 years. In the Bible we are told that “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and of a sound mind “and I am living proof of that (found in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7). Thank you, Lord! Mark