Hello, my name is Ruth. I’m married to Pete, am a mum, and love to spend my spare time singing, cooking and catching up with friends or family.
However, I’ve got to pause there, because although all those things are nice to hear and know, they don’t tell you about my true identity. I want to tell you about how I came to find my true identity in Jesus Christ.
I was brought up with my two sisters in a Christian home, meaning both my parents trusted Jesus as their Saviour. We were taught about God from childhood and I can never remember doubting God’s existence or the claims of the Bible. However, although I believed in God, I didn’t know him personally or have a relationship with him.
When I started secondary school, I was (at last) old enough to join the church’s teen youth group. Each year the youth group would have a weekend away, which was famous amongst the youth — everyone loved ‘May camp’. It was a mix of fun, laughter, food and little sleep, but the priority was always given to studying the Bible.
It was at this camp, in the year 2000, that I came to realise that I was a sinner, that I was guilty before a holy God, but through Jesus’ death and resurrection could be made right with God.
Joy
On that Saturday night, I put my trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour of my life. It wasn’t a dramatic event, it was simply hearing God’s Word spoken, reading a short booklet called Ultimate Questions by John Blanchard, and asking Jesus to forgive me for all my wrong-doing.
I repented of my sin and sought to take self off the throne, and put God on the throne of my life. I remember feeling so happy after putting my trust in Jesus. I had become a Christian! I shared the good news with my youth leaders and family as soon as I could.
As a Christian, I still sin and make mistakes in my life, because I’m not perfect. Each day I feel and know my failings and experience sorrow for those wrong choices and decisions I make.
In the past, I have struggled with the thought, ‘Can I really be saved, when I keep making these mistakes?’ Yet, the Bible amazingly reveals to us, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And it is not your own doing; it is the gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8).
So, as I surrender my life to Christ and seek to serve him with a full heart, knowing that he has set me free from the power and guilt of sin, the word ‘grace’ rings in my ears, and what a sweet sound it truly is!
Ruth Young
