Loved At Last

by Dennis Y.

The first memories of my childhood are of my brother and me being moved from one foster home to another. Eventually, we returned to live with our real mother.

Things went pretty well for a few years. When I was 11, my mom invited Jesus Christ into her life and we started attending church on a regular basis. It was then when I was first exposed to the Bible. I realized Jesus died for me. I asked Him to forgive me and come into my life.

Everything suddenly went wrong

I was just beginning to like people in our church when everything suddenly went wrong. The associate pastor assaulted and humiliated me at a church picnic.

Junior high and high school were tough and I was ridiculed and beaten up on a regular basis. My self-esteem was at an all-time low. I was terrified of being betrayed and I wouldn’t allow myself to get close to anyone.

Eventually, my mother sent me to live with my father. It wasn’t long before he kicked me out. Devastated, I once again felt alone in the world.

Betrayal and poor choices

Then I met a man who seemed wonderful. He fed me and gave me a place to live. He showed genuine respect for me and listened to me. Then he raped me. I had been betrayed again and I found myself in a pit of despair. I wanted to die.

After that, life became a blur. I made many poor choices. I found myself a father at the age of 21. I didn’t know the first thing about love, trust and honour. I remember saying many times, ‘Oh God, please be patient with me. Don’t take my life yet.’

Nine years later, we had a daughter. I felt like I was more mature by that time and was determined not to make the same mistakes I had made with my son. I poured the only love my heart had ever known into my little girl. Unfortunately, I did not see the negative impact it had on my son and his mother. Our family split up when my daughter was a year old.

Giving God a chance

Finally, having reached an all-time low, I decided to give Jesus a chance. I told Jesus He could have complete control of my life.

After all these years, I have found someone who truly cares about me. He is never going to betray me, hate me or abuse me. No matter what, He will always love me. Jesus is slowly restoring my faith in life and in this world. He is teaching me to love. He has not wiped out the consequences of the bad choices I made but He has promised to never leave me or forsake me. He is carrying me through life one day at a time.

Take a look at your life. How would you describe it? Contented? Rushed? Exciting? Stressful? Moving forward? Holding back? For many of us it’s all of the above at times. There are things we dream of doing one day, there are things we wish we could forget. In the Bible, it says that Jesus came to make all things new. What would your life look like if you could start over with a clean slate?

Living with hope

If you are looking for peace, there is a way to balance your life. No one can be perfect, or have a perfect life. But every one of us has the opportunity to experience perfect grace through a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? You can pray it right now, and Jesus Christ will come into your life, just as He promised.

Is this the life for you?

If you invited Christ into your life, thank God often that He is in your life, that He will never leave you and that you have eternal life. As you learn more about your relationship with God, and how much He loves you, you’ll experience life to the fullest.

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Further Reading:
Accepting my father
The Healing Power of Forgiveness