Everyone has a God story to be written. My God story started years before I even knew God wanted to have a relationship with me. I was someone who always thought I was a good person. Of course I will go to heaven. I lived my life for the people around me. I lived to please my parents, show them that I was someone they could be proud of. I lived to please my boyfriend, to show him that I was someone who could make him happy.

All of our God’s stories start before the Gospel is even shared with us.  Paul, in Acts 26:4-11, is speaking in front of King Agrippa sharing about why he lives the way he does.  He’s sharing the start of his God story.  Paul says,

“The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee… I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”

We were all like Paul at some point.  He strived to be the best Pharisee he knew how to be, yet he had no regard for Jesus Christ.  I strived to be the best girlfriend, the best child, the best student, yet ignored Christ.

Even though, just like Paul, I had no regard for God, God pursued me. He pursued me through his people. Looking back the first place I experienced God’s love was through some family friends. They always welcomed me into their home. They hugged me. They treated me as though I was one of their children. They prayed for me when life at home was hard.  I was never a project for them, but I was someone the genuinely loved and cared for.

God used his people in another way in my life.  Kristen was someone I had met through another friend.  One night we were on a walk and she asked me, “What do you think about God?”  She listened intently as I answered and then asked, “Why do you think you believe that?”  That question forever changed my life and set me towards a new journey.  It wasn’t the words she said, but it was the way she said it.  She really wanted to know.  She didn’t want to know to prove me wrong; she wanted to know because she loved me and ultimately wanted me to know God.  She knew one of the easiest ways to show people love was asking them about themselves and then truly listening to their answer.

Who can you love today? Who can you start a conversation with and ask them about their beliefs? Not treating them like a project, but genuinely loving them and listening, truly being interested in who they are.