My Personal Testimony - From New Age to Jesus
This article has been updated with more transparency and honesty.
I grew up attending a Baptist church, but never actually read the Bible in entirety. Although I confessed Christ and was baptized at 8, I fell off when I went to college thinking being a “good” person was enough. In truth I had a very lukewarm Christian foundation with many New Age philosophy seeds planted. I’ve since learned that my own “good” standards are very different than God’s standards. Much of my life has been driven by education and the arts. Although successful enough in both areas, it didn’t come without a lot of trauma, heartbreak, and many many mistakes along the way.
In January 2017 I had an extremely rough transition into motherhood and as a new family. I did share a small portion of my struggle on Minimalist Beauty with the birth story of my son, but kept the rest to myself. I cried daily for nine months straight.
After the first three months I started reading the Bible and seeking God with everything I had. Everything I had dabbled in prior wasn’t helping. This was the darkest time in my life. And no it was not hormonal. This was a kind of darkness that New Age affirmations, chanting, angel card readings, yoga, reiki, positive thinking, and everything related could not lift. Sadly I had done it all.
I questioned life, my existence, and everything in between. Six of those trying months I was in prayer constantly while reading the New Testament in full. I was having intense suicidal thoughts not understanding at that time they were not my own.
It was an evening in September 2017 that I experienced Jesus come into my home and remove ALL of the oppressive heaviness and darkness from my spirit. He delivered me of suicide and depression. The thoughts actually weren’t my own but that I was in a spiritual battle. In New Age it is taught that there is only good and God, but no evil. That is a deception.
I will never forget that day. The unconditional and overwhelming love I felt can not be put effectively into words. I didn’t understand it at the time, but in that moment I completely surrendered my life to Christ. I had been very heavily into New Age at this point in my life and none of it had helped me through this dark time. Believe me I had tried it all. I gave my life to Christ that day because Jesus is Lord. He had power over ALL of it and he gave me a second chance.
The experience changed my life forever, and I literally can’t go back to who I used to be. It would literally be impossible, and not something I would even want to do. Since that day I’ve been doing my best to fully walk with my Lord and Savior, and live my life for God’s glory and not my own.
Aside from sharing my testimony, God has put it on my heart to share more of my journey with modesty. I honestly feel like the worst person to speak on this topic, but I’m just going to trust this. I was a professional dancer for 14 years, wore the most immodest costumes, and created an idol of fashion. As a dancer I was desensitized completely about modesty from a young age.
I thought wearing exactly what I wanted was a form of expression and freedom, yet was clueless to how I was affected by dressing immodestly. It was a very superficial, not spiritual perspective. I also didn’t understand how immodesty affected others, nor was I aware that God even cared about how we dressed. Nevertheless I gave my life over to Christ on that day in September 2017, and I plan to write more on this topic as I’m led. Although I will share my experience with modesty, modesty is not the mission. It is leading others to Christ who he may be calling.
Minimalist Beauty has evolved into a platform of many topics from simple living, health, organic beauty, family, and now faith. I figured if I at least shared a back story there would be a new foundation of what is to come. After ten years of various topics and discussions, I look forward to this new beginning and hope you’ll be interested in the journey.
Much love.
Image by Dawn Michelle