- Hello, my name is Maggie and I am 13 years old. I will be in ninth grade this fall. Some of you may know my family because we've been going to this church for 10 years since I was three. It's rare for there to be a kid like me sharing my testimony, but it is truly by the grace of God that I am following him at such a young age.

It is such a blessing and I would be lost without him. As I mentioned, my family has been going to this church since I was three. I am so grateful to have parents who love the Lord and have faithfully taught me about the gospel. I always believed the gospel truth because it was all like I had ever really been taught.

I thought of myself as a pretty good kid and thought that I was going to heaven when I died because I affirmed gospel truths, went to church and read my Bible. But my heart was in rebellion against God. I didn't love him and was just doing outwardly religious things for the approval of people.

I lived with this false assurance for most of my childhood. It wasn't until 2020, about two years ago, that things started to change. God used the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit in March that year, to reveal my sin and the state of my heart to me. In the main sense of my life were anger, bitterness and apathy.

These things manifested themselves in many ways. I yelled at my siblings all the time for virtually no reason. I was really disrespectful to my parents, slacking off in schoolwork and chores because they didn't matter to me. And I stopped reading my Bible and paying attention to online sermons because they were of no interest to me.

I didn't love God and it began to show itself outwardly. I noticed my sin and began to doubt, could a true Christian behave like this? At first, I distracted myself from my doubt and just dismissed it. But over time, I came to an absolute certainty that I could not be a Christian.

This made me sad and fearful, but I tried to distract myself from that as well. I sought satisfaction from the things of the world, thinking that my fear wouldn't matter if all my hopes and dreams came true. But my sin continued to get worse and worse, not only outwardly, but at the heart level as well.

I can confidently say that during that time, I hated God. As I saw the ugliness of my heart, I grew more and more desperate, but my pride kept getting in the way. I thought that my way was better than God's way. I thought that I was strong enough to fix my sin by myself.

I thought that I didn't need Jesus, but the more I tried to be self-sufficient, the worse it got. I was heading down a spiral to destruction. I knew this deep down inside, but I didn't want to admit it. Again, I was too prideful. That fall, I was 12 and entering the youth group.

I went to youth group mainly because I wanted to make friends and also because my parents wanted me to. I sought satisfaction through friendships, but despite this wrong motive, God used the teaching in youth group those first few months of seventh grade to soften my heart and show me that all my strivings were futile and that all my attempts at good works were useless.

I realized that I needed Jesus and that I couldn't rely on myself. I had always been taught this as a kid, but it wasn't until this time that I really, truly understood in my heart what it meant. I was brought to a point of total desperation one night that fall.

I had a lot of time to think about things and I thought, "I'm a terrible person," because that's the truth. No matter how hard I tried, my heart was ugly and full of sin. In that moment, I realized the staggering truth that someone had already been punished for my sins, but it wasn't me who had been punished.

It was Jesus. He took the debt of my sin upon himself. He bore the wrath that I deserved, and his resurrection is proof of the fact that he had the power to pay for my sins. For the first time in a while, I prayed. I told God that I needed him and that I couldn't change the state of my heart on my own.

I cried out to him for help. He heard me and caused me to be born again that night. I turned away from my life of sin and turned to Christ, surrendering my whole life over to him as my Lord and Savior. I saw in that moment the overwhelming and incomprehensible love with which he loved me.

There was no reason that he should love a sinner like me, but he did. I couldn't understand why, but I was so grateful for what Christ had done for me on the cross. After that point, I began to change. I began to read the word, seeking to know this God who had saved me.

As I read, it wasn't just Bible knowledge, but it took root in my heart and caused me to love the Lord even more. The Holy Spirit empowered me to love those around me, regardless of whether or not they loved me. It was very hard, but I began the process of uprooting the anger and bitterness in my heart.

I also met up with my youth group teacher, and God used and still uses her wise guidance and counsel to mold and shape me in the likeness of Christ. To this day, I am still far from perfect. There are still many areas in which I need to grow. But the Lord has brought me through so much, and I know that no matter what happens in my life, he is sovereign and good.

No matter how many times I hear it, the gospel can never grow old. It is the foundation of my life, my identity, my hope, and my joy. I look forward to the time when I can meet my Savior face to face, and I know that he will bring me safely there.

Thank you.