“My Beliefs Were Challenged”
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Meghan K. writes:
I accepted Christ as a young girl, was raised in the church, and had a strong Christian family. I memorized Bible verses in Sunday school and learned and practiced all that was taught or preached. My faith and relationship to Christ has always been very real to me, but it wasn’t until I was challenged that I discovered most of what I believed to be true was based on what I had been told by others, not what I learned for myself.
When I was eighteen I decided on a Christian college, sight-unseen, and it wasn’t until I arrived that I learned it was a legalistic school. I knew a lot of what I was being taught was not biblical, but the only argument I had to offer was, “I know it’s wrong because my mother told me so.” Obviously, that was not a persuasive argument.
My mother encouraged me to study the Bible for myself. Each night I would sneak to a secluded space at the college and study from a modern translation that had been smuggled in (we were only permitted to read the KJV). Through many prayers, tears and hours of study, I learned for myself what was true. I believed it because God said it, not because someone else told me.
Since then, and through many more hours, tears and prayer, God has used me as a Bible study leader. I love sharing how to study the Word and discover the truth. It’s so much fun and such a joy to watch “light bulbs” turn on as I watch students dig into the Bible. There is nothing more exciting than to open a living, breathing, and life-changing book.
Please note that the views expressed in this story are not necessarily the views of the American Bible Society. Story posted on September 19th, 2007 and filed under Bible, Your Stories.
September 19th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Thanks for sharing, Meghan. I grew up in a Christian family too, so it wasn’t until college when I started making a lot of non christian friends that i realized i had to make my beliefs my own.
September 19th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
That’s an amazing story; thank you! I actually became a Christian in college, but for the first few years, I based my understanding of God and his word on the Christian friends around me.
After frustration and the feeling that I was not the right “fit” to be a Christian, someone challenged me to read the Bible on my own and get to know God on his terms–not based on the friends around me.
It was absolutely life-changing. And now I love seeing women discover their identities in Christ by reading, studying, and growing in their love for God through his word.