I remember the moment I gave my life to Jesus. I still wasn’t sure if I was going to stay Mormon. I had decided at that point if I stayed Mormon it wouldn’t be because I believed in it. It would have been for the social pressure of my Mormon family and friends.
It was May 21, 2015. My third baby was just about a month old. My oldest two boys had already given up on naps. But on this afternoon all the boys napped.. at the same time! I took the opportunity to put on “Gods not Dead”. I’d watched it a few months before but I wanted to watch it again now because my religious views had changed. It was nothing short of a miracle when the movie came to an end and the kids were all still asleep. I sat on the couch just thinking about God. What does He want for me? How would my life change if I left Mormonism publicly? Was it worth it? The answer was immediately yes, God is always worth it. So I found myself on my knees right then and there pouring my heart and soul out to God. Pleading with Him to guide me, to save me. For the first time in my life I saw myself as a true sinner. Not just someone making transgressions. For the first time I saw all my flaws, and there were, and are, a lot of them. I poured my love out to God the best I could. I closed my prayer pleading for strength to follow through on what I knew I had to do.
Over the next few weeks and even months I found great comfort in what I was learning in the Bible, but these few verses always stood out to me.
Psalms 91:2(KJV) I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Hebrews 4:16 (KJV) Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Philippians 4:13 (KJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
As I read the Bible I became more confident in the God I was getting to know. The one who is the beginning and the end. The one who is all knowing. The God who created me individually in my mothers womb. (Psalms 139:13-15) The creator of all things. As my relationship grew with God I began to not worry so much about what everyone else thought about my decision because I was confident in who God declared Himself to be in the Bible.
So what does it mean to be born again? Jesus teaches you must be born again. (John 3:3-7) First you were born from the womb, second you must be born spiritually. Spiritually born to know Jesus and to be His disciple. The Bible says that you must confess by your mouth and believe in your heart that He is the only way and then you will be saved. (Romans 10:8-10) (1 John 5:11-13) (Acts 16:31) (John 3:16)
Being raised in a religion that has multiple steps to get to heaven (the celestial kingdom) made me really question if it were truly so simple. I didn’t want to take the easy way out. Many Mormons say “That’s all you have to do to be saved?” Thats truly the beauty of the gospel. Its as simple as Jesus taught it to be when He was here on earth.