This is my story of how I bore witness to the Lord. My Testimony of his influence in my life.

I was depressed, lonely, and only cared about lifting to feed my ego. I lived for myself and was a slave to my sins. A slave to the desires of my flesh. It worsened to the extent where I had scheduled to take a SARM (a steroid) to become more physically appealing and receive validation from others.

This is before I knew the truth. Before he revealed himself to me. I first bore witness to Jesus the very day after I decided I was going to take the SARM. It was early in the morning and I was having second thoughts about going through with it. I felt guilty and I knew myself well enough to know that having to lie and hide it from my parents would bring me immense anxiety. It can only be attributed to God that- even though I was so unhappy and demotivated with life at the time -I ended up backing out of the arrangement. Which indicated that even before I had accepted him, he was still working on my behalf. After canceling my plans to take the drug, I felt this huge wave of relief wash over me. But, even though he saved me from going through with it, I hadn’t noticed his influence yet. Nor did I welcome him into my heart. With the underlying mental difficulties I had at the time still being largely at hand, it would take a miracle to give me any hope of finding meaning in my life. You see, before things had gotten as bad as they did, I had tried many different attempts at finding fulfillment without God. Beginning from nihilism when I was still in middle school (I was edgy I know), to agnosticism in early high school, to hedonism not long after, to stoicism as a Junior because I craved reformation and structure, and finally back to hedonism (this is when I started lifting excessively to strive towards something while still ultimately serving myself). From then on it consumed me and caused my relationships with my loved ones to suffer and I lashed out at them when they didn’t deserve it. I was hateful and no amount of validation from others was going to change anything. So, after putting my foot down having become tired of being a slave to body dysmorphia, I was still left with damaged relationships, low self-esteem/worth, no confidence, and no self serving philosophy to adopt and distract me from it all. You’re probably thinking this is when I started believing in Christ or that he came to me on some dream or something; and that out of desperation I surrendered myself to him and lived happily ever after. No, it wasn’t a dream or a sign, or a tragedy that called me into discipleship. Remember, I was obsessed with lifting. God used that to reach me. He came to me, I didn’t seek him nor come to him on my own. Allow me to explain. Shortly after I chose not to take the SARM, I decided that the only way I could justify my efforts was to pursue natural bodybuilding. Because of this, I started watching Alex Eubank due to his natural physique. Little did I know, he had uploaded a video titled “Why I Chose Christianity” and because I was curious I clicked on the video. He went on to give his testimony of how Jesus entered into his life and how before his belief he had gone through similar mental tribulations growing up as I had been facing at the time. It hit me pretty hard and on a personal level. He had the courage to be vulnerable to an audience of thousands in a culture where there’s a stigma against men who dare show even the slightest bit of emotion. He acted as a role model for me and conveyed to me that you can still look shredded, lift weights, and be vulnerable even so. That it’s okay to show weakness. I cried after hearing his testimony and thereon decided to give Christianity a chance. He went on to make claims affirming Christianity’s credibility through logic and reasoning alone. heres the video if you’re interested https://youtu.be/NjdIUorhQ0w He introduced me to apologetics and recommended Angel’s “The Chosen” which really helped me visualize the events of the new testament besides just reading it: which really helped as a new believer. From then on, may faith grew and I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior. I struggled with my relationship with him for a while but after months of praying and healing have passed I can testify that my life has changed drastically. As of now lifting is merely a hobby that I enjoy once in a while. He helped me learn so much through reading his word and interacting with other Christians and he put things into motion that have called me to volunteer at my local food pantry and through him I have influenced others around me into considering accepting him also. My purpose of giving you my testimony was so I could do what is asked of his disciples in Acts 1:8, to “bear witness” to him to others. This was hard to talk about because it’s personal to me but if it was enough to urge just one of you to accept him then it was well worth it. Thank you for listening and to whoever stuck around to the very end, I want you to know that I love you and that heaven really is as easy as proclaiming him as your Lord and receiving his seal. It isn’t won through works, or not sinning, or anything else. The takeaway from this is even if you think you’re unworthy, or scarred, or have had bad experiences in the past with a false preacher: answer the call to adventure. You lose nothing by believing and everything ignoring this message. He has plans to give you hope and a future. He is knocking, you need only answer the door. God bless you.

Acts 1:8

isaiah 55:6-7

Revelations 11:15

Thank you