I was saved, and this is my story.

"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."- Psalms 18:1-2 My whole life I've believed in God, and my whole life I've felt somewhat of a connection to Jesus. But it wasn't till early 2010 that I truly turned to Jesus Christ for help. My troubles began around 2007 when I made the biggest mistake of my life by turning to Drugs and Alcohol for comfort. I began smoking weed and drinking because it was what my friends were doing, we all just experimenting at first but pretty soon, it became almost a daily occurence, and I had became someone I had never wanted to be. I had given up all that was important to me to live a life I onced hated and feared. I was my worst nightmare, I turned a cold shoulder on my family and friends and left them for the life of partying, all at the innocent age of 15-16. Although not spiritually, I was finally awakened from my addiction when I was arrested and ordered to a Rehabilitation class for three weeks. I saw the end result of the road I was taking and I turned around and headed back for the straight and narrow (although I was yet to connect with God). After I kicked my addiction, I became devoted to the straight edge life; struggles still came from losing all my friends (a majority of them, now completely consumed by drugs and alcohol), and the guilt of betraying my family churned in stomach like bad food. I was not happy.
For the next year or so I continued to struggle with the guilt of the mistakes I had made, I became violent and angry at myself which then turned to violence and anger towards the world. I couldn't understand how drugs had taken over such a massive part of the world when the only thing that drugs creates is problems. I hated everyone who had anything to do with drugs, and that included myself.
Throughout my struggles with anger towards the world, I had fallen in love with girl, who, to put it lightly, didn't have the same feelings back. This became a heavy weight on my shoulders on top of all the mistakes I made, the guilt, and anger I was brought to my knees; but I soon found a way to vent all that agression I had: Hardcore and Punk Rock music. I grew to love and to this day still love, Hardcore and Punk music, because of the aggression and passion that fuels the music. But I also grew to love it because of the many friends I made because of the Hardcore and Punk scene. I had found a place to fit in, and things were almost perfect apart from the heartbreak of the girl I cared for. Unfortunately that heartbreak soon became too much to handle, I couldn't find happiness anymore, even when my friends tried as hard as they could to bring me up, I still felt down. And just as things seemed to be lost for me, I finally made the decision to reach a hand out to Jesus, and he reached back. I had felt the holy spirit and from that moment I knew I had been saved, while I still struggled with sadness from time to time, I was blessed with the strength to overcome it. Anytime I was down, I turned to Jesus and again, he was there for me. The Lord became the one thing that I could always turn to for help, and I felt a connection so strong with God that I still feel today. I was a violent, angry kid who had done very little for God and he still blessed me with the strength to overcome it all, and he continues to bless me today, even though I still am FAR from perfect, and never will be a perfect person. I had become a full-blown "jesus freak" and I hadn't even read the bible and had very little knowledge of the teachings and story of Jesus Christ. While I still have a lot to learn, I'm proud to say I'm Christian and I'm excited to continue to learn more of Jesus Christ and to better my relationship with God. While I know tough times still lie ahead, I now have courage and faith, that Jesus will always be there for me.