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| by Mario Lagman Christ Great Commission Church Pacifica, CA
The strict rules that I was accustomed to in my old religious background as well as my family of origin were so deeply engraved in my being that I brought that type of black and white thinking into my Christian life. I constantly did something good for God because I felt I was not deserving of his love whenever I sinned or I failed Him. I was not aware that I was more focused on my sins rather than on the Son who was living in and through me. I was born in the Philippines and was raised in a very religious family. We even had weekly family prayer nights. During "Holy Week" we would fast and abstain from certain foods. We would also go to my father's hometown and watch people literally carry a cross and be actually nailed to it to atone for their sins. It is no wonder that even as a Christian I had the concept of feeling awful about myself because of my sins. In fact, there was a time in my Christian life when I could not tell the difference between punishment and discipline. Since I had to work for my forgiveness, I felt that others who had offended me should do the same. And because I perceived God as someone who demanded perfection and holiness, I too had the same standard and expectation for others, especially my loved ones. I did not realize that I was punishing them through my critical and judgmental attitude. After being exposed to BWGI Ministries, I was freed from the chains of performance and rule keeping. Having experienced loyal love and forgiveness from my "daddy God", there was no time for being rigid and keeping track of other people's offenses. I am just so excited to be able to tell others how God has freed me from a rigid and legalistic lifestyle! God has dramatically changed my life through
the BWGI Ministries. The atmosphere in our home is
so relaxed and easy going now because we know how God sees us and
how much he delights in us. Through this ministry our family
has learned the balance of setting boundaries and experiencing
boundless love. Thanks for everything and may God bless you in
everything you do. Buy the workbook Becoming What God Intended from our online Christian bookstore! Now available on-line!
Get the full impact from this teaching for your
life through our powerful and unique eLearning online Bible study course
Spiritual Life Development!
Visit our
Testimonies home page for more stories! |
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I just want to let you know how much the
Becoming What God Intended
materials have impacted my life. I have been a Christian since
1988, and although I acknowledged Jesus Christ as my personal Lord
and savior, I felt that I was just going through the motions of
Christianity rather than experiencing the emotions of Christianity.
I knew about the certainty of my eternal destiny because of the
saving work of Christ, but I still found myself trying to work for
God's approval and acceptance, disguised as my dutiful obedience to
Him.
