MARIE TABLER
Marie tells her own story best:
"When my husband Todd and I were married, neither of us had studied the Bible or knew much about living Christ-honoring lives. We were both young and selfish and our lives rapidly grew apart. There was a great void in both our lives and it was this realization that lead me to become interested in learning more about the Bible. In my heart, I knew most everthing I did was founded in rebellion and I had a desire to give that up in hopes of finding something worthy and full of real purpose.
"I began attending different churches and in doing so, someone asked me whether or not I knew for sure if I was going to heaven. To me, it appeared arrogant for anyone to say they knew for sure they were going to heaven. This person then offered to show me some verses in the Bible and I agreed to have a look.
"After reading several passages, I understood that the Bible certainly says you can be sure about going to heaven. It also said you do not "work" your way into heaven. In other words, God is not going to weigh your good and bad works to see whether or not you'll go to heaven or hell. Instead, it says Salvation is a gift of God and there is nothing you can do to earn heaven and have a close relationship with God. It says everyone has sinned and only Christ can take away our sins. You must trust Him, and Him alone, to be forgiven and have a relationship with Him. I prayed for God to take away my sin and declaired Christ as my Lord and Savior.
"Not long thereafter, though, I considered the validity of the Bible and began studying it's history. Eventually, I came back to the realization that the Bible was completely unique and true and that Christ was more than worthy of all trust. I reaffirmed to Christ that I was a sinner and wholeheartedly gave my life to the persuit of a relationship with Him. By studying the Bible and finding a strong, Bible-believing church, I began to learn how to follow Christ on a daily basis. This, in turn, showed me how to be a good, caring wife -- which made for a much improved marriage. However, my husband, Todd, said he had no interest in becoming a Christian. He said it was a fine thing for me but it was not what he desired to become.
"A few years later, Todd's father pulled through some serious medical issues. Todd was impressed by the concern of my church family and grew more interested in the Christian faith. Not long thereafter, he too realized that the Bible was true and devoted his life to Christ. It was tremendous! It was also very humbling to experience God giving that which neither of us deserved. A marriage is a union of two people who become one. To have one party not believe while the other believes is as close to "half-saved" as is possible. The day Todd chose to follow Christ, the other half of our marriage was pulled from utter hopelessness to life. Christ's plan for our lives works beautifully – living as the Bible says to live, we are promised a most amazing life."
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