I am Li Liu. I am 26 years old. I am originally from China. I am not from a Christian family and only became a Christian after coming to New Zealand.
Romans 3:23 ‘All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.’
I realised that I am a sinner who sins every day; I have a sinful mind and I think in a sinful way; I always come up with sinful ideas and I cannot overcome my sinful human desires at all. As a normal human, I believe that I have sinned so much and I cannot be forgiven. After reading the Gospel, I realized that, it is true; there are many things that we cannot do, but God can. I cannot make my sins be forgiven, but Jesus did that as God.
In late 2015, I have met Jeff at Massey University and Denn-Mark at the Night Market. Jeff has introduced me to Shore Baptist Church, Denn-Mark took me to the Anchored Retreat Camp at the end of 2015. I started attending Shore Baptist Church on a regular basis, each Sunday. My English comprehension capability was not good, actually too bad, in the beginning; Jeff had a hard time explaining everything to me starting from John’s Gospel. As time went by my English improved dramatically. I could read the Bible on my own and some related books. I saw that I am self-centred and I have a cruel character and that having Jesus in heart would always be a battle with my human sinful desires.
Luke 6:27-28 ‘Love your enemies, and be good to everyone who hates you. Ask God to bless anyone who curses you, and pray for everyone who is cruel to you.’ The man who carries the sword will die under the sword; Jesus is the lighthouse that always alerts me to love others, especially the ones who are not related to my personal interests. If my heart is guided by sin, I will die under my sin.
Proverbs 12:25 ‘Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.’ I have become much more patient and I already learned to resolve the difficulties of life step by step. I slowly learned the importance of having goodness towards others because I have received love from Jesus first.
Psalm 116:1-2 ‘I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live.’ While I was under the control of sin, I was gradually dying as a sinner. I need Jesus to forgive me and save me from my sin; I am excited about following Christ, and about what He is doing with my life; I commit my life to Jesus as my saviour. I want to thank Jeff and Denn-Mark and others in the church for talking to me about Jesus and helping me understand what it means to be a Christ-follower.