Confessions Research Paper

A. We all know that humans have a good side and a sinful side by nature. However through Christ we can redeem ourselves and live a new life in Him.

a.) God—The practice of ministry has given me numerous opportunities to interact with people at different stages in life’s journey…birth, death, marriage, divorce, sorrow, struggle, celebration, and so much more. These relationships have allowed me to see God at work in the everyday world. I have seen God as Comforter for the grieving as a wife mourns the loss of her husband of 55 years. I have seen God as Liberator for the oppressed as the church works toward helping those placed on the outskirts of society experience God’s amazing grace for them in so many different ways. I have seen God’s salvation through the struggles of a women facing life’s end as she struggled to forgive herself and embrace the grace God already had in place for her since before she was born. I have also see God as the Uncomfortable Agitator of the self-centered as people who think they have it all figured out begin to once again struggle with what it means to be a child of God and truly love one another in this world. As I continue through ministry, I am faced with the stark reality that my understanding of God is so minuscule in its breadth. God does not fit in the boxes we try to place God in. As I

III.Credibility Statement- I have gained an understanding of God's values and love through my life of struggles and hardships that he has always helped me get through.

I grew up knowing this gospel, I lived in Salt Lake City, my parents were extremely emerced in the church with callings like young women’s president, primary president, Sunday school teacher, elder quorum president, 2nd counseler to the bishop, stake relief society president, and 1st counsel to the stake Sunday school president. Their testimonies and examples help me understand the principles of Christ’s teachings. I grew up knowing what was good and what was bad, and from an early age I hated being in the wrong. I liked to please people and felt so uncomfortable with the feeling of guilt. Looking back on it now I can see that is a gift that God gave me, it was great it kept me out of trouble for the beginning years of my life, but it wasn’t

“Soldiers often carry this burden home — survivor guilt being perhaps the kind most familiar to us. In war, standing here rather than there can save your life, but cost a buddy his. It’s flukish luck, but you feel responsible. The guilt begins an endless loop of counterfactuals ‑— thoughts that you could have or should do otherwise, though in fact you did nothing wrong,”(War and The moral Logic, The New York Times).Many people argue about whether survivor's guilt is necessary. Some people think that survivors guilt is needed. Others bear that it isn’t fair for the people. Survivors of life and death situations should not undergo survivor’s guilt.

A life of faith is seen as believing in your morals with confidence. A life of habits is seen as behavior patterns. Your habits tend to circulate around each other, sometimes without you realizing. Your faith can either light the way or darken the journey. These two concepts go hand in hand, especially in religion. In the book, “The Confessions”, is a story about a young man named Augustine who was born into a middle class family on November 13, 354. His father was a pagan and his mother was a Christian. The life that Augustine portrays in this story is quite a journey of habits and faith.

Just like Paul I was not always a follower of Christ, and prior to becoming a Christian, I always thought of myself as being a relatively good person and doing the right things. Life was good, and although I had my fair share of ups and downs, I was enjoying my life in general. I was never the type of person who would let themselves get into too much

I always knew that I was born for something. I just couldn’t believe for a minute that God would create me just to exist. It

I am a heroin addict in recovery and did whatever it took to and went to any lengths to get my drugs. I was living a life full of sin. Today, I know I was born into a sinful world and it 's what I do with it that matters. Since becoming a Christian I have learned what love is. God is love. I show my love for God by showing my love for others. I am the head cook for two separate community dinners. I meet with elderly Christians that no longer can get to church. I help with the cold weather shelters to make sure homeless have a warm place to sleep at night. I know that my acts of love and kindness towards others is not what 's going to get me into God 's kingdom, but it sure does add value to the lives of others as well as mine. There is only one way I get to heaven and that is to accept that Jesus died for my sins and to ask for forgiveness. So what I a have learned in the last three years

As I’ve been pondering my becoming project, I’ve come to relies that I’ve grown in ways that I never thought I needed to. At the beginning I was having a very hard time trying to figure out what Christ like attribute that I need to work on most. As I prayed and ponder and look at the all the Christ like attributes it stood out to was believing. I started to ask myself why, why do I need to need to believe more in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Well going thru this semester I have found out why. There is so many reason why we need to straighten a Christ like attribute.

It was not until I had a personal encounter with God that I realized we all struggle. We all have faults, suffer with our own demons. Some put on a mask others like myself don't, we are just open with our struggles. I realized God never promised me that this walk would be easy. He never told me I would not hurt, I wouldn't fall, I wouldn't struggle. What He did guarantee is everlasting life if I choose to serve Him and accept Him as my Lord and Savior. I no longer had to prove to anyone that I was saved, that I was called by Him. All I had to do was live a purposeful life and do what He called me to do.

Change is in the air and so is uncertainty. It can be new chapter for some and a trial for other. When such things are happening in life it easy to forget our faith especial the basics. I know I have, in fact I have to recollect them often. I easily forget the basic truths of Christianity like trusting and grace. How often I undermine my own salvation with my own merits and misdeeds; but in God 's grace and long-suffering, he reminds me who I was, am and will be. So beloved, I wish to share three things He showed me.

Because of the fall and sin that corrupted the world I am broken and far from righteous. This became especially evident when I documented my feelings, thoughts and behaviors over the course of the last month and a half. Since a lot of unusual and extreme situations came up in my life during that time, it was particularly interesting to look back at those moments. What I discovered was that my image of myself and God’s version of it are very far from each other.

I have a direct relationship with Jesus Christ and I really enjoyed talking to Jesus Christ every day and walking with him. No matter what happens, one thing that I am assured is “Jesus loves me forever.” While I was a sinner, His love for me compelled Him to give up His beloved Son to pay the penalty for my sins (John 3:16). Although my love for Jesus may only be a small portion of His love to me and I might sin again even after I was saved by God, God’s unconditional love never turned away from me. Knowing this, I decided to follow Jesus, no turning back.

For me what I can relate to is thinking I will notice a change within a day, but as I learned that can take years. Looking back on my life I have seen how God has kept his hand on me all through life, even when I was not following Christ. Going to a military school for six months is when change accrued in my life. Of courses, I knew I was doing something different, but I did not see the change at the time. Growing up I was surrounded by negative people at home and at school. I can remember one day I got in trouble at school, so when I got back to my aunt’s house, she came in the room I was in and told me right in front of my cousin, “You are an embarrassment to this family.” That hit me so hard, because in the office at school they called me a “bully” and in the hallways, I was known as a “weirdo.” Then at home I was thought of as an “embarrassment.” I felt nothing but anger and depression, telling myself, “Nobody loves you. Destiny, your own family does not care about you, NOBODY does!” The reason I say the military school changed me is because I had accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I did not see the change right then and there, but I did know God had a plan for me. While I was in the program I learned that I cannot hold on to the past and let people determine who I am. I was so lost