"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"I grew up in a Christian family, was taught the gospel at the very young age, attended a Lutheran elementary school, and attended Sunday school every week. I understood that we are all sinners, deserving of hell and eternal punishment. I knew that Jesus Christ, God's one and only Son, died on the cross for the atonement of my sins, and conquered sin through His resurrection. Although I knew all of these things, I admit that I lived a very "Christian" life because it was easy to do so in my very sheltered environment. I was never challenged to stand up for my faith and it was rarely convenient to act contrary to what I knew was right.
I attended an independent, secular high school. Here was where I realized the difference between the life of a Christian and that of a non-Christian. It was a place where everyone was relatively tolerant of everyone else's views, values, and beliefs, and seldom did I feel an urge to make it known that I was Christian. I had my beliefs, and everyone else had their own. At this point, my priorities were very focused around succeeding in school, having fun with friends, and getting into the college of my choice, UC Berkeley. It was a great school, and I wanted to stay close to home. I was almost completely sure that I would be going there the following year as my stats pretty much matched those represented by the previously accepted class. However, as March came, I was devastated. I was devastated because things didn't work out as I had anticipated, and now, making the decision to attend UCLA instead, there would be a mess of uncertainties to come.
During my first year at UCLA, I didn't attend church much. The thought of needing to wake up early Sunday mornings and allot 3 hours of my time to church caused me to worry that I would not have enough time to study. I attended a campus fellowship and small group each week, and believed that this was sufficient for my 'church activities'. I thought to myself, "There's no need to specifically go to church on Sundays. A Christian life should encompass every day of the week, so why make it a necessity to set Sunday church apart from that."
It was not until my second year at UCLA that I began to mature in my faith and understanding of what it meant to know God's Word and to obey God's commandments. I began to attend a different campus fellowship, as I was never really involved in the one I attended my first year. Here, I was constantly challenged to be critical of my own faith and values and to pursue a biblical foundation for everything that I did. My small group leader challenged me to regard all things with a biblical perspective, being careful not to fall into living a worldly life.
Looking back now, God has truly blessed me by bringing me to UCLA and to Grace on Campus (GOC) campus fellowship. I was forced out of my safe comfort zone and was bluntly and clearly shown the gain that there is in living a life for Christ.
I believe that I am a sinner, falling short of the glory of God. There's nothing that I can do that will make me worthy of entering Heaven. It is only by God's grace, that He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross and pay for my sins, that I can stand blameless before God. Understanding the immense depth of my sin and the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice has taught me to truly understand the weight of the Gospel. Knowing God and salvation in Christ shapes all that I do. I live with an eternal perspective, knowing that eternal treasures worth infinitely more than earthly possessions and success.
With this, I hope to glorify God through my pursuit of an MD degree, through my everyday attitude, my studying, my interaction with friends, and everything else that I do.
1 Corinthians 10:31 (NASB)
"Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
