Nicolette
Profession: Clinical Social Worker
Years keeping it 100: 33 years
WHO IS JESUS TO YOU?
To me Jesus is love personified. When I think about what he’s done for me; dying for me, my sins, just the fact that when he was on earth he showed us what it means to be compassionate & to really be loving to others & just seeing what he’s done in my own life, I know that I am loved. After years of really not understanding what that meant, just knowing that there’s someone who loves me unconditionally, it really means a lot to know that I serve a God who is love.
HOW DID YOU BECOME CONVICTED JESUS IS THE REAL DEAL, THAT IS WHO HE SAID HE WAS?
Ok so I have two parts. So the first one is, I remember back in 2000 when my father kind of walked out of my family’s life & we were in such a bad situation at that time. We all knew the Lord, we all new Jesus, I knew him from a child growing up. I can honestly tell you that looking back, I don’t know how we made it through. When I really think about it, I can attest to the fact that he [Jesus] was there for us, in many ways. When he said “I will never leave you or forsake you,” that verse really became real to me. Just looking back at every moment where we had a lack, he made up the difference. Every time I felt as if I didn’t really know what to do, he always provided & always made a way. And so that really cemented my understanding of who he was as a provider. The Lord really keeps & satisfies, even in the midst of hardship.
And the second thing is, I remember watching The Passion of the Christ for the first time in movie theaters. And movie that really broke me. Like I said, I was saved at a young age & I knew Jesus. But, to see what he actually did, on that magnitude that was never filmed before, it really hit home; the sacrifice that he really made for me. And so I really was convicted at that point to really understand that he is was who he said he was. That he really came to die for our sins. And he committed to that for us.
WHY DO PEOPLE NEED JESUS?
People need Jesus because people are lost & people are in sin & people need a way out. And Jesus is the only answer. We were all born in sin & shaped in iniquity. We were all basically on our way to hell. We didn’t do anything other than be born to be sinners because of what Adam did in the beginning. But, Jesus made a way by dying for our sins & rising again so that we can have eternal life if we can accept the truth of the Gospel, that he came to die for our sins & cleanse us. I feel like many of us feel like we can do without him, but in the end, it doesn’t really matter what your life looks like. We are all sinners. And until you believe in Jesus you will not be able to see Heaven, you will not be able to see Jesus, you will not be able to claim eternal life. And so we need Jesus. We need salvation. We need the Lord & savior. There is really no way around that.
WHAT IS THE ONE THING ABOUT JEUSUS YOU WISH EVERYONE UNDERSTOOD OR KNEW ABOUT JESUS?
That he really, really loves you. You know we’re living in a world where love can often times be transactional or we only love those who love us because it’s easy. And Jesus when he came to earth & died for us, while we were yet sinners he died for us. And that’s love. To really love someone & sacrifice for someone knowing they don’t want you, knowing that they don’t know you exist or even care; that magnitude of love, that magnitude of compassion where he sat with sinners & ate with them no matter who criticized & who said a bunch of evil things about him because of it. He made sure to note to us that his love was completely going across the board. There’s really no condition behind his love. He is absolutely love personified. There’s nothing you can ever do to make him stop loving you. Nothing you can ever do. The Bible says that all are called to repentance. There’s nothing you can ever do to make yourself not good enough to come to God because he will always accept you. I think that’s the beauty of God himself because God is love. His very essence is love. And Jesus is love. His compassion that he has for us. Just knowing that he can identify with our own needs, our own struggles because he went through it when he was here on earth. So he knows & understands what we go through. And knowing that everything that we do he knows about & he still loves us anyway. I think that is something I really want to stress to people because we’re living in a world where it’s just easy to just push someone to the side. It’s just easy to abandon someone for not believing in your principles. Or to even feel as if you’re not wanted for whatever reason. But there is a God in Heaven, there’s Jesus, his son, who is the very epitome of everything that love stands for. That’s what I really, really want people to understand.
