The “Changed by Jesus” series features stories about how Jesus is working through the ministry of Mars Hill Church to change lives. If God has used Mars Hill to transform your life, email your story to testimony[at]marshillchurch.org.

by Veronica, Downtown Seattle Campus

My parents divorced at age 4, and I grew up with my mom who took me to Catholic church, while my grandparents took me to Lutheran church. I had a single negative experience at Sunday school which marked the beginning of my unbelief and animosity toward all religion. This manifested for the first time at age 13 when I began drinking, doing drugs, having sex, and treating my family and friends as less than human.

In college, I began dating and fell in love with a Christian guy named Michael, who had fallen far away from Christ and was getting drunk, sleeping around, and eventually lived with me for the first three years of our tumultuous relationship. One day, he told me that he actually desired to live in obedience to Christ and marry a Christian woman. I was completely shocked and devastated once again, as I knew that this would eventually mark the end of our relationship.

However, being entirely dependent on Michael for my happiness, this didn’t stop me from dating him because hoping that one day it would all just work itself out.

A year later, we moved to Seattle and Michael, out of frustration from a conversation with his Christian mother, went online to find a church in Seattle. He ‘Googled’ and found Mars Hill at the top of the list. For the first time, we would go to church voluntarily for something other than a funeral, within a week of moving to this city.

I was nervous that I would feel totally out of place and uncomfortable, but was immediately comforted when I walked in and saw modern-style decor and people with tattoos.

The sermon was the first in the 1st Peter series, and already I was amazed at the perfect timing of it all. I found myself unusually drawn to Jesus, and I realized how absurd and judgmental I had been toward Christians (all in the name of being ‘open and accepting’).

In the ensuing months, God’s perfect timing continued to manifest as each sermon spoke directly to Michael and I about some issue that we were facing that week.

We joined a community group and finally began to make friends somewhere other than at a bar. We became convicted about our sexual sin and stopped having sex, and eventually God showed us that Michael needed to move out.

I stopped drinking a short while later, breaking my alcoholism for the first time since the age of 13.

Jesus has completely changed the person that I am in less than a year, and his presence and love has prevailed in my relationship with Michael. Jesus is the sole reason that our relationship has even been able to continue, and to overcome deep-rooted sin. We’ve been able to share confessions and love each other and God more as a result, instead of resenting each other and continuing in the selfish, bitter, drunken relationship that we were idolizing before.

I’m totally amazed by how real Jesus actually is!