Why I'm a Christian

This post has been brewing in my head for some time now. 

So today, I explain why I'm a Christian. 

Ready? Here we go. 

I've talked a few times on the blog about January 1st, 2012. About that moment. 

The moment when I lifted my hands as high as they could reach, and confessed that I was desperate for God. 

The moment when I realized that I had to surrender my entire life. Not just Sunday mornings. 

The moment when it hit me that the past 8 and a half years that I had thought of myself as a Christian, I really had no idea what it looked like to live like one. 

But you know what I haven't talked about? Why I felt that way. 

Why did I feel the need to surrender my entire life? What were my motives behind making that incredible life change. 

The truth is, I wanted to surrender my life because of the future that I thought it would provide me. I thought that by finally living as a Christian should, I would end up with the life that I always dreamed of. 

I would find a wonderful husband. 

We would have wonderful children. 

And I would have a wonderful reputation. 

And as I began making changes that I never thought possible for me to make, as I began studying the Bible for the first time in my life, I kept dreaming of this wonderful life that God would give me. 

Are we seeing the common theme here? It was all about me. I was happily changing my life with the expectation that God would bless me in return. 

Today, in March of 2013, I am so thankful that I decided to surrender my entire life to Christ on January 1st, 2012. 

But I realize now, that I did it for all of the wrong reasons. 

It's not about me. 

It's all about Him. 

God has already blessed me beyond what I could ever hope for, He adopted me into His family. He sent His one and only Son to die a horrible, terrible death on the cross so that I can enjoy His presence forever. 

I live my life for Christ now, not because of what I expect to get in return, but because of what I can give back. 

I was put on this earth to glorify Him. 

And if a wonderful husband, and wonderful children, and a wonderful reputation will glorify Him? Then so be it. 

But if I never get married, 

if I never have children,

if people never hear the name Amy Reed in their entire life, 

heck even if they hear that name and think negatively of it, 

it doesn't matter. 

Because it's not about me. 

It's all about Him. 

I am a Christian not because of what it will add to my life. 

But because it is my one hope to bring immense glory to His name.

***

"I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting

in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Galatians 2:20