Would God accept me?

My name is Margaret and I can honestly say that, apart from my childhood years, my years since becoming Christian have been the best years of my life. Not that things have been easy, (in fact many times quite the opposite) but knowing that God is real and that my life is in His hands brings so much direction, peace, hope and inner contentment.

My life before I became a Christian had been pretty average. I had a good upbringing in a loving family environment, I left school and went straight into work and have always been well provided for materially and physically.

Unfortunately I was never satisfied and constantly wanting something. I would strive towards something, achieve it and move on to something else. This in itself maybe wasn’t much of a problem until I started hurting others in the process. Once I knew that I’d hurt someone I felt there was no turning back and would press on in some new venture. My philosophy was that what was done was done, and I would have to learn to live with whatever mistakes I’d made and the guilt which comes with it.

When I first heard the gospel - that Jesus had died to forgive us our sin and bring us into relationship with God - I couldn’t believe it! Like most people, I had a vague belief in ‘Someone up there’, but thought that after He had created things in the world, He’d been pretty redundant and had somehow sadly watched on as we destroyed His perfect creation. I thought I’d go to heaven because I didn’t murder anyone. In other words, I created my own standards of how God should judge me but this didn’t make guilt disappear. Deep in my heart I knew I didn’t meet God’s standards. But would God accept me if I believed that His Son had taken my place - that He had paid the penalty of sin by dying for me? The answer was yes - the Bible says that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life.

Unfortunately there was no Alpha course around then to help me out but I did speak to other Christians and asked a boat-load of questions!

Finally, after questioning, reading and weighing up, I took a step of faith and accepted Jesus as Saviour and Lord of my life. I didn’t have all the answers but I knew in my heart that it was the most important decision I would ever make in my life. I’m so glad I did. As I said at the beginning, God is part of my everyday life - He helps, comforts and guides me and I have an inner peace and joy that nothing else could ever replace.

If anything that I have shared with you registers in your own heart or if you simply want to know more, can I recommend Alpha to you? It’s free and there are no hidden motives - I would love you to know what I know now. Remember it’s the most important decision of your whole life.

If you would like further information about this article, contact Margaret