Hi, my name is Christine, and I’m currently a senior in high school. Like many, growing up, I’d go to church with my parents every week and sit in Sunday School so that I could learn about God through Bible stories and memory verses. I prided myself in knowing all the answers to every question my Sunday School teachers would throw at me, and I was eager to learn more about God so that I could show off my knowledge to my peers and teachers. I began hearing about Christ and His death on the cross at an early age, so I knew a lot about Jesus even though I didn’t understand much about him.

In fourth grade, I went to VBS and there I learned that because of my sinful nature, I deserved God’s wrath and to spend eternity in hell, but through Christ’s death on the cross, I was redeemed from the punishment I deserved. Before this, I figured that since I knew a lot about God and the Bible, I would go to heaven. Fortunately, by God’s grace, I learned that my salvation couldn’t be earned by knowledge, but if I accepted Christ as my savior and committed my life to him, I would be saved. I decided then to accept Christ as my personal savior, though my life didn’t change much after I received Christ. I continued to strive towards knowing all the answers.

It wasn’t until middle school when I started attending TIGS that I began to truly understand what it meant to follow Christ. However, even though I knew a lot about what it meant to be a Christian, my life didn’t reflect Christ very much. I was too busy worrying about my academics and my friendships that I prioritized them before my relationship with God. I was much too proud and reliant on my own strength that I didn’t realize how great my need for Christ was. In middle school, I didn’t have many friends, and as I struggled with my loneliness and anxiety, I resented God for making me suffer and not giving me solid friendships. I continued to live on my own terms and refused to trust in God and His sovereignty. However, as God continued to humble me and show me the extent of my weakness, I began to see my rebellious nature and my need for Christ. Through my trials, God has taught me to be dependent on His strength and grace.

One of my favorite verses comes from 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says, “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” I’m taking this step of water baptism as a public declaration of my faith in Christ and as an act of obedience. I’m devoting my life to Christ, and I will constantly depend on His strength instead of relying on my own.