Sarah

I grew up in a Christian household, with my mom going to one church and my dad going to another. I’ve always believed in God and thought I was right with Him because of my actions and because I went to church, but I didn’t know what it was like to read the Bible or get truth from the word. Instead, I got my truth from the world and what the world or even my “Christian” friends were saying was true, so it formed a lot of confusion in my life. When I was about 15, I started to slip into a very sinful habit of life. I made school and my sports an idol in my life. I found myself getting my identity from what other people and my coaches thought of me and even from the parties that I had started going to. I knew that these things weren’t right at the beginning because I could hear my conscience telling me, no that’s probably not a good idea, yet I didn’t listen, and after a while I didn’t know what was right or wrong.

When I got to college, I was still going to church, and I had the idea of possibly doing a Bible study because that was familiar to me. In my first semester at USF I found a group of guys on my floor doing a Bible study and I quickly asked to join in. They ended up introducing me to a Campus Minister who was able to show me God’s truth in His word. While doing that Bible study the Lord really showed me that I was living a sinful life, and that I was living completely independent of Him. I was told what the Bible said about what it takes for someone to get to heaven and that God wanted my whole life, not just 10-1 on Sundays.

When I realized that my sin had separated me from God, and that all the things I had done to try to make myself right with God were useless I knew the only thing I could do is repent and surrender my whole life to Jesus. I did that my freshman year and ever since the Lord has been showing me His goodness and power and the incredible love that He has for me and for other students on campus.

- Sarah