My Story

It’s easy to say that I’ve been a Christian for my entire life and that I’ve always gone to church and had been saved. But there came a time in my life just a few years ago, specifically, during ninth grade when it became very difficult. You could say I went through a “stage” during which I fell very easily under peer pressure, used foul language, did things that weren’t expected of me by the people that I look up to, and neglected the trust of my family. To make a long story short, I didn’t trust God. I had always gone to church before and prayed every night and read my bible, but during the ninth grade, I completely disowned that lifestyle. I very seldom talk about my transformation, if you will; from this stage to the person I am today. But I feel like it has potential to be a good example. When the tenth grade started, I came home from school one day and my dad had my cell phone and his bible. I usually deleted all my text messages just in case something like this were to happen. But, little did I know, my dad had gone through all my messages and asked me to “come to his office for a minute”. He had come across multiple uses of profanity between my friends and me. He was very upset with me, even though he didn’t show it, and never does, I just knew he was. Nothing breaks me down like hearing the words “I’m disappointed with you, son.” I can’t bear to hear those words come from him. I used to joke that I would rather have my mother screaming and yelling at me for an hour than my dad saying that he was disappointed in me. In reality, I wasn’t joking. When my dad said those words to me, it was like my heart fell out of my chest and into my stomach. I knew right then that I had failed and absolutely NEEDED to change my behavior. He shared several bible verses with me, and things that his dad used to tell him, and honestly, that’s all it took. One of the bible verses being: (in translation) “Any man among you who may seem religious but can’t control his tongue, deceives his own heart and his religion lacks reality.” There were a few others but I can’t recall them. One philosophical phrase that he said that did stick with me was this: “The absence of profanity offends no one.” This stuck with me because I then had the desire to become a better person and so I could easily apply this to not only my profanity problem but also other problems that I had. For example, the absence of crude humor offends no one, and the absence of violence offends no one. Trust me, no one is going to judge you for not cursing, they will in fact, look up to you, but not admit that they do because deep inside they know what is right from wrong. Every human being is equipped with moral psychology or the innate ability to judge right from wrong. Things like alcohol and drugs may render this ability however, but that’s a whole other story. To conclude my story, I must say that it was indeed by God’s hand that disconnected me from any desire to use foul language, say inappropriate things, do inappropriate things and try to fit in. From then on, I have dedicated myself to God by way of Jesus on the cross for He has rescued me from sin. I’d like to leave you with these verses, even though they are not particularly relevant to my story, they provide a great summary of the newly found perspective of life I have: “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7 NLT)

Naaman Dyer

BBYM Drummer