Our personal testimonies are a testament to what God has done in our lives and can have the power to impact others. I do so now in the hopes that it will, in some way, affect yours for the better. (Revelation 12:11)

Today, whenever I see saints departing from New Covenant grace and bringing themselves under the rules, Sabbath, and Feasts of the Mosaic law, I want to shout from the rooftops, “don’t do it!” You see, I understand why the New Testament scriptures warn us not to bring ourselves under law and it was a painful lesson to learn. I grew up in a religious cult that made it their life’s work to indoctrinate us in the works of the Law. Although I loved God, and wanted to live right before him, over time, I found these works impossible to keep. The more I tried, the more I failed to keep them. Sin always had the upper hand. This only resulted in a cycle of shame, guilt, struggle, and disappointment. All of this wreaked havoc in my life. Eventually, it became a burden I could no longer bear. (Acts 15:10-11)

Throughout my teenage years and even as a young adult, I wrestled with addictions, anger, and at times, deep depression. No matter how hard I tried to overcome, I could not. Like Paul, I found that although I wanted to do good – I could not do it because sin was present within me. (Romans 7) It wasn’t until the Lord gave my husband and I a spiritual awakening and led us to leave this cultish organization that we came to understand why we were unable to have complete victory over sin.