Spiritual Birthday Stories

Every Christian has a unique Spiritual Birthday story. God uses vastly differing circumstances and experiences to bring people to faith in Jesus Christ. Some are drawn so gently that they scarcely know when the drawing began. Others are so suddenly and dramatically changed that their conversion stands out in their memory with clearness and excitement. Whether as a young child desiring the loving Jesus in Bible stories at home or in Sunday School, or as a prodigal son or daughter living in sin repenting and completely changing, every story is a
testimony of God’s amazing grace and love. Your story before Christ (B.C.), your spiritual birth (Born Again) and your life after your decision (A.D.) is important to you and of interest to others. Be prepared to share your Spiritual Birthday Story whenever and wherever you can.

Physical birth stories are all about the same. Nine-month pregnancy, birth in hospital and home with mom. Some have tried to liken a spiritual birth to the physical birth process, but spiritual birth is not a pregnancy nor a process. Being born again is an event that occurs at a specific time and place during your physical life. A Spiritual Birthday story is more like a love story between you and Jesus culminating with “I do” on your wedding day with a specific date
and place.

My Spiritual Birthday story actually involves my wedding story. I was baptized as an infant by my parents, but had no involvement or understanding of the event. It was a dedication or commitment by my parents to teach me about Jesus. As a child, I attended Sunday School classes when my parents attended church which they did infrequently. I had a child’s understanding of Bible stories about Jesus’s life. At age 14, I received instruction in the doctrines of the Christian religion and was received into the local church by the rite of confirmation. I had passed the entrance exam into the church but I did not have a personal faith and relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord of my life. Through high school and my first year of college, I did not attend church but thought I was leading a moral life and was okay with God.

Early in my second year of college, I met and began dating my future wife. She was a born-again Christian who had been actively worshipping and serving Jesus since age 10. I was soon attending church with her and learning more about Jesus, but did not feel any emotion or need for action regarding my spiritual condition. Looking back, I imagined that I believed like she believed and she imagined that I believed like she believed. Love can be blind. We married at the start of my senior year of college and when I graduated, we moved to California. We both found jobs and being away from family, soon found that the beach and other attractions filled our weekends. We did not find a new church home. After about six months, I began ride-sharing with a born-again Christian coworker who invited us to a class of young adults at his church. We immediately enjoyed the fellowship and activities of this group. A few months after we started attending the class, the church held special evangelistic meetings. I do not remember the evangelist’s name or message, but on that Thursday night, November 3, 1960.

God, through the Holy Spirit, brought me to repentance and a saving faith in Christ. I publicly professed that I was a lost sinner and that my only hope for eternal life was through faith in Jesus. I asked Jesus to be my Savior and Lord and claimed his promises of new life. I was born again and received the gift of the holy Spirit. I did not repeat any vows or say “I do”, although to love and to cherish from this day forward would have been appropriate. My wife recommitted her life to Christ that night, confessing that she was not living and serving in accord with her commitment. As a testimony of our faith in Jesus, we both were baptized by immersion to symbolize our passage from the old life into a new life with Christ. We have experience six decades of new life with Christ and look forward to eternal life with him.

You can read a more detailed version of my Spiritual Birthday story in my book YOUR
SPIRITUAL BIRTHDAY, as well as the stories of Mark Mittelberg and Lee Strobel. We would like to hear your Spiritual Birthday story. Send a short version of your story and we will
Share it here on our website.