How the Bible has impacted my life: Bonnie Centers

Submitted by Bonnie Centers, responding to the statement: "How the Bible has impacted my life."

Many years ago I didn’t feel I knew enough of the Bible and felt like a Christian hypocrite.   I knew I was a “good” person, but for some reason that wasn’t good enough.  I couldn’t justify my faith.  The Holy Spirit must have been in me because I knew I needed to change.  I took a two year Crossways class but having a young child at home, I didn’t put enough effort into the whole Bible narrative.  Don’t get me wrong, I learned the basics and received a sense of awe of our mighty Lord.  I knew I didn’t do justice to that Bible class so a couple years ago I thought I’d give it another try with Bethel, another two year course.  This time, I was able to keep myself accountable to all the reading involved.  By no means did I complete all the requirements of this course, but I gained tremendously by reading and attending every week.  This time, I began to understand what God had done and is still doing.  I have new meanings for love, compassion, forgiveness and praise.  My ultimate respect and love for our Lord grew and now realize my next step is to work on a deeper relationship with Him.