A Personal Relationship with an Unchanging God

Why I believe

© Gail Thomson

Christianity is an evidence-based faith. That might be an unbelievable statement for those who have grown up thinking that religion means believing in something in spite of the evidence. While that might be the case for some religious believers, all of the ‘born again’ Christians I know have based their faith on evidence of one kind or another.

The reason why I qualified the term Christian with ‘born again’ is that these are people are not Christians by default, but by decision. Many grew up in non-religious households, or in a different religion — becoming a Christian was the opposite of what their parents taught them. Even those of us who grew up in Christian homes made a clear decision to follow the Lord at some point in our lives. These decisions often include a ‘testimony’ — a story about how it happened.

Personal testimony as evidence

Personal testimony counts as evidence. This applies to discussions about God as much as it does in a court of law. If you dispute that, I would ask how you know whether or not your loved ones actually love you. In our everyday experience of love, we do not subject those who claim to love us to a blood test to determine if their oxytocin levels spike when they see us. Without that kind of ‘scientific’ evidence, how can we claim that they love us?

In our daily lives, we use the things we personally witness as a form of evidence. When someone says kind words, gives us a meaningful gift, goes out of their way for us, or sacrifices for our sake, we count it as evidence of love.

In this first article of a series on why I believe in God, I want to unpack what this kind of evidence looks like for me. In future articles, I will look at other kinds of evidence.

Why am I starting with subjective personal stories, which those who haven’t had this experience may dismiss? First, because most people already use this kind of evidence in their relationships with others. You may know nothing about scientific or historical ways of investigating truth, but most people can relate to personal stories.

Second, learning about how other people became born again Christians gives us an idea of what this God is like. In the same way that a physical description of your mother will never reveal her character as much as your stories about living with her do.

Third, we can triangulate personal experiences to determine whether this God we are talking about is the same Person. When my personal experiences are similar (but not identical) to someone else’s, it is likely that we met the same person.

Consider this thought experiment: Say I had a good friend as a teenager who then moved to another country and got married. Sometime later, I meet his wife for the first time. While we’re talking, she recounts something silly he did, and I tell her a similar story from when I knew him. With each story, we exclaim: “Oh, that’s just like him!” We have good evidence that we are talking about the same person — he’s done the same kinds of silly things all his life.

Comparing personal Christian testimonies works much the same way. Whether I am in conversation with another Christian I know, or watching a stranger tell their story online, a sense of familiarity shines through. The other person may come from the other side of the world, be brought up in a totally different culture, or speak a different language to me — yet when they tell their story, it is instantly familiar. I find myself thinking: “Oh, that’s just like Jesus!”

My story is unique to me, yet I imagine that the Christians reading this will recognise the Person I am talking about. If you are one of them — let me know in the comments!

When Jesus touches you, He changes you

My very first experience with the Lord happened so early in my life that I rely on my father’s retelling of the story. I am not even sure how old I was at the time. On our way home from church one day, I bubbled with excitement and just had to tell my dad something super important: “Dad, when Jesus touches you, He really changes you!” As a Christian, my dad immediately felt familiarity — Jesus had changed him, too.

I believe that Jesus did change me that day, but Christianity is not a one-and-done kind of deal. It is an evolving relationship with a living God. As I grew older and learned more about Christ at church and in the Bible, I realised that that day of excitement was just the first step on a long the journey.

Growing in the Lord

From very early in my Christian life, I had the immense privilege of reading the Bible and learning to study it. My dad ensured that my brother and I read the Bible every evening; he was always willing to discuss what we read and answer questions.

That foundation was built upon by our local pastor, Anton Bosch. He is still one of the very best teachers of the Bible I have encountered. He not only taught us what the Bible said, he helped us to study and interpret it for ourselves — the best possible gift for a young Christian like me (some of his recent teachings are available on YouTube).

My increasing knowledge of God through His Word and the people He put in my life led to a watershed moment. One day in my early teens, I made a definite decision to surrender entirely to Jesus — I committed to serving Him for the rest of my life. Unlike my early experience, I remember this one. There were no witnesses, no human influencers, no pressure or fanfare. This was a private conversation between me and the Lord. It was a moment of intense emotion and clarity of thought.

On the emotional side, I knew that I loved Him more than anyone. I cried tears of joy. On intellectual side, I thought carefully about my decision. Jesus could ask me to do anything. It could mean sacrifice — I may have to choose one day between Him and my family or friends. There were many permutations to this decision, and I tried to imagine as many as I could. In each scenario that I thought up, I consciously said: “If this ever happens, I will choose you, Lord.”

Serving a personal God — Who never changes

As I look back on my Christian journey so far, I remember experiences that touched my heart and exercised my mind. The emotional experiences were inexpressibly beautiful, while the mental ones were deeply profound. Through them, God has given me glimpses of His infinite love, joy and creative power.

One of the marvellous things about being a Christian is that God isn’t into cookie cutting. It is true that He wants to make us all like Jesus, but in billions of different ways. The Church comprising all believers throughout all ages will one day stand before Jesus looking like a brilliantly multi-faceted gemstone. Each Christian within her will reflect the light of Jesus in a unique way.

While God meets us as individuals, we must remember that He is always Himself. The God who revealed Himself in the Bible is the same God who speaks to our hearts. It is critically important that we know God in His Word to judge whether the things we are experiencing come from Him. No matter how powerful the experience may feel to us, if it does not line up with God’s Word, then it is not God.

This safety measure was put in place by the Lord Himself — without it, any spiritual being could lead us astray (Galatians 1:6–9). For example, if someone stole my husband’s cell phone and then sent me messages, it wouldn’t take long before I recognised that this isn’t him. My prior knowledge of my husband’s character protects me from people who pretend to be him. In the same way, knowledge of God through the Bible protects us from false spiritual experiences.

Conclusion — how to meet God

If you don’t know the Lord personally yet, please don’t stop searching for Him. He knows what kind of evidence you need, and how to speak to you in unique and unmistakeable ways. All He asks for is an open mind that is willing to follow the evidence where it leads, and an open heart to obey when you feel His loving touch.

Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” (Psalm 27:7–8)