D’Arcy Murphy
Seeking the approval of my friends, family, and even God, was always the driving force for me to become a high achiever. When it came to being a good Catholic, I thought I had everything and then some, until I met someone who had what I didn’t - a relationship with Jesus. As a high school student, I often went to retreats and conferences and talks, and had a sense of peace that lingered from feeling like I was pleasing God, but after a few weeks it would always fade away.
When I got to university, I wanted to have more of that self-assurance. I found the Catholic community on campus. My Bible study leader was young, cool, and funny - there was no way he could have had an authentic Christian lifestyle if he was so cool. Or so I thought. As I got to know him, I realized that he lived life authentically in a way that I didn’t. In high school and into university, I had been flip-flopping between trying to find satisfaction from being the popular guy at a party, and going on Church retreats to feel like I was a good person. I could see in my leader that the lasting joy he had didn’t depend on what he was doing or what other people thought of him. It was a joy that I wanted.
Through joining a Bible study at my university campus, he shared with me that his abiding joy came from living out a relationship with Jesus. When he invited me to choose this for myself, I realized it was what I had been missing out on all along . Even though being Catholic was such a big part of my life, I had never let Jesus lead me. It was always about getting Jesus’ approval, not about letting Him do what He came to do - to love me. It had never really clicked that at the core of my Catholic faith was the truth that I was created to live in relationship with God. I became convicted that it was time to stop living a double life because I could feel the effects of my sin separating me from God - but that made Jesus feel even further out of my reach. My faith study leader explained to me that I didn’t have to be perfect to be close to Jesus, but that drawing close to Him would make me the man I was meant to be. In fact, I learned that Jesus alone can restore my brokenness and save me from the consequences of my sin through His death and resurrection!
So I made the decision. On November 3rd, 2016, during my Discovery faith study, I chose to invite Jesus to be the centre of my life. I remember it vividly, the room I was in, the people I was with, and the peace I experienced. Choosing to invite Jesus to be at the centre of my life transformed the way I experienced life, in a way that was permanent and lasting. I experienced a new closeness to God. One example would be that when I read the Bible, it felt like He was speaking directly to me like the words were jumping off of the page. Unlike those experiences I had had when I was younger, the joy that I experienced from living a relationship with Jesus remained steady. I know this is because I finally allowed Jesus to live in my heart, rather than just to let Him visit when it was convenient.
You can also choose to invite Jesus to be at the centre of your life, and I firmly believe that your life will never be the same. It will be far greater than you could ever ask for or imagine! Would you like to make that decision today and pray to invite Jesus to be at the centre of your life?