Bert Platt

I was blessed to be able to grow up in a church-going family where I was loved and taught about Jesus. I understood that I needed His forgiveness early on and committed my life to Him as a young child.

Although I wasn’t perfect I tried to follow God’s basic rules, and felt that God wanted me to do something special. But I didn’t know what it was, and so I focused on a lot of things: my education, leadership positions, and my passion for nature. But I still didn’t know what I was really supposed to do, and I certainly didn't know why.

Then a friend shared some Bible verses with me that helped me understand just how much God loves me and that the special thing that He wanted me to do was to simply love Him and love others. God showed me that even with all the blessings He had given me I couldn’t change the world around me until I let Him change me…So I did; I asked God to turn my efforts at following the rules on the outside into really loving Him on the inside.

It’s still hard to understand why He loves me - I’m still not perfect - but I think that shows how full of love and forgiveness He is even when I don't deserve it.

Having this personal relationship with God helps me know what I’m supposed to do and why. I now see that all of the blessings He has given me and my family are opportunities to share His love to other people. Knowing His love is personal and real brings me comfort through the hard times and deepens my joy in the good ones.

I’m still a work in progress, but I’m glad that God is the One Who is doing the work.

Bert Platt