My Testimony…

Throughout my growing up years I identified as a Christian. While I was far from perfect, I lived the life of a “good girl.” Christianity was, in many ways, my life.

Fast forward to my 20’s…I went to BIOLA  (the Bible Institute of Los Angeles) to pursue the idea of missionary work. While there I met my husband and we married right out of college.

Soon into marriage, opportunities opened up for Luke to do pastoral ministry. Thus began our many years of ministry together. Except one major thing was not quite right. I was not a genuine Christian. I certainly thought I was, and so did everyone else.

I had never doubted the truthfulness of the Bible. I had no doubt that Jesus came to die for sinners. But the problem was, I didn’t think I was that bad of a sinner. In fact, deep down I figured I was good enough to be on decent terms with God.

Everything changed during a Good Friday service in 2007. We were invited to write our sins down on a small piece of paper before nailing them to a cross. As the pen met the paper, my eyes were opened. The depths of my sin and the reality of my separation from God became evident. For the first time, I truly understood that I, Heather Pace, needed the payment that Jesus took care of on that cross. After years of looking like a Christian, talking like a Christian, and doing ministry as a pastor’s wife, I finally was able to turn from my sin in genuine repentance and faith. I finally was a Christian.

Life changed from there.

Since my life aligned with biblical living in so many ways, my actions and lifestyle weren’t drastically altered. But on the inside, I was very different. My motives shifted from doing godly things for selfish reasons to seeking godly things for God-honoring reasons. While sin and struggle didn’t cease, fighting sin was way more successful (becoming more holy as a non-Christian is a lot harder, FYI). Before conversion, I tried so hard to be the woman I knew I should be, but it felt like an uphill battle that I was climbing all alone. Once God changed my heart, it became an uphill battle with the Spirit pushing me along.

God is good. I could have been blinded to my sin my whole life. I could have kept busy “serving” God to my death (with a variety of self-centered reasons for doing so). But in God’s kindness, he ripped the blinders off my eyes and showed me my need for him.

I am, and will forever be, grateful that his amazing love saved a wretch like me.

[I’ve also written about my testimony at Desiring God. You can read
“Confessions of an Unsaved Christian” here.]