When is Your Birthday?

Unless one is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:3

As a mom, I can attest to the miracle of having a child. The whole process from conception to birth is a miracle. The transformation from an infant to a child is also miraculous. Each milestone my boys reach is a miracle. With this baby growing inside of me, I am blessed to be part of yet another miracle.

However, being born again is perhaps the greatest miracle. When we celebrate our physical birthdays, shouldn't we celebrate our spiritual birthdays as well, the day we were born again?

My spiritual birthday was June 18, 2004.

My husband's spiritual birthday was June 20, 2004.

Colin's spiritual birthday was October 28, 2008.

Being born again is a gift from our Father through Jesus Christ. Because of sin, we are unfit for the kingdom of God. We are separated from our Father in Heaven. However, because Jesus humbled himself and came to earth to become the sacrifice for our sin, we are able to have our sin washed away to be bound for life to our Father.

There were times in my life I never felt good enough for anyone or anything. There were things in my life I was ashamed of and felt those things made me unworthy. But the more I learned about God and the love He has for me (and you), the more I saw and knew that I was good enough for someone.....HIM. He had a plan for me. I had to realize too that Satan had a plan for me. I had allowed him to control my life and it was difficult to turn away. It was so easy to believe I would be made fun of, ridiculed, and still be a fool. But on that Friday morning in June of 2004, I made a decision. I decided to let God have control of my life. Yes, it was MY decision. No one could make it for me. At the time, when I decided to make a visit instead of a phone call, I was unaware of what was ahead of me. God knew, and He gave me the wisdom to turn my car around and go to my pastor's office. I can't explain how it all happened. I don't know why that day was any different than any other. I just know that a battle was going on that day, a battle for my soul. God was victorious.

After I opened my heart to Jesus that morning, my life was different. I felt different. I saw things differently. I thought, spoke, and acted differently. Of course it didn't happen all at once. It was a process. Just like when we grow as children, that is a process. We have to grow and develop spiritually just like we do physically. We can't compare ourselves to others spiritually just like we can't compare ourselves to others physically. We are unique creatures. We are not like anyone else. God made us special that way.

What better way to show we love Him than to accept the gift of His son Jesus Christ? We have to humble ourselves which isn't always easy. For me, I feel like I'm a pretty independent person. I hate to ask for help or let people volunteer to help me. It is difficult to say sometimes, "I've messed up. Please help me." We feel like a failure if we do. However, in God's eyes, I think we are a failure if we don't. He wants us to tell Him we've made a mess of things and allow Him to work through us. That is nothing to be embarrassed about.

As you celebrate this Christmas, I pray that you may also be able to celebrate the fact that you have a spiritual birthday. If you have not yet asked Jesus to be your Savior, I pray that you would humble yourself and do that. It will be the greatest decision of your life.