“I Was My Disciple’s Bully” | #ShareJesusStory
Back in college I was known for being a bully. There was a fellow student named Julian who was a volunteer of the organization I was part of. Being 3 years his senior, I thought he was an easy target and I bullied him for no reason. I didn’t treat him like a person; I would physically and verbally abuse him whenever I felt like it. I had a sense of control over him as I could even force him to do personal errands for me. There was nothing wrong with Julian, he was a typical student who took his studies seriously yet I still went out of my way to make fun of him in front of crowds. To me, he was mere prey at the bottom of the food chain.
2 years after, I met Jesus at the lowest point of my life. I hit rock bottom and came to my senses that I had nowhere else to go but towards Him. I had a 180-degree life transformation and understood that I had to let go of my selfish and arrogant ways. As I grew in my faith, realized and took to heart the call to serve others in the way Christ served His disciples.
Because of this, I started to post about my personal experience and testimony on social media. True enough I got a lot of mixed reactions; some people found me funny, weird, good, etc. They were probably thinking, “How can such a bad guy say things about how good God is?”
Despite the good and the bad reactions, I was at peace because I knew that I am forgiven and saved by God’s grace.
As I continued to post and share about my newfound faith, Instagram released a “Stories” feature and I was so into it. I thought it was such a cool way to connect with people so I freely posted about not just my daily life, but also my faith and activities in church.
One night as I was scrolling through Instagram a notification popped up — it was Julian! He replied to of my random Stories and connected with me. Despite me being a bully to Julian (among others), he still treated me with respect that I knew I didn’t deserve. Memories immediately flashed of how I used to be so mean to him. I knew what kind of person I’ve been to Julian so I quickly prayed to God. I asked the Lord to humble my heart so that I could sincerely apologize for all the things I’ve done in the past. As I apologized, he told me that it was nothing to him and that he forgave me a long time ago. It was sad to hear that for him, bullying was nothing new.
I feel relieved knowing that he didn’t hold a grudge against me but I knew that I couldn’t just stop there. I had to reach out.
Soon after that conversation, Julian messaged me once again asking If I could go with him to attend my church, Christ’s Commission Fellowship. That’s where our discipleship journey began. Julian started to attend our weekly Discipleship group where we both learned more about God and accountability.
No matter how bad our past may be God can always use it for His glory. It took me a leap of faith and obedience to say a simple “Sorry”. It wasn’t easy!
The best way to learn humility is if we allow ourselves to acknowledge how sinful we are and realize we don’t deserve forgiveness yet we are offered it by Jesus Christ Himself. It’s only by God’s grace that He allowed me to experience this wonderful relationship with Julian as a brother in Christ.
If I kept silent about my testimony I might have missed the opportunity to be an ambassador for Christ on Julian’s Instagram feed. Social Media is an effective platform to proclaim the Life-changing power of the Holy Spirit.
You have access online, use it.
