Miguel - Mexico

There are few words that can accurately describe the depth and magnitude of Jesus' amazing love for me. He literally went down and saved me from the pits of hell and gave me a new life. Ten years ago I was a very lost and broken person carrying a lifetime's worth of hurt and pain seeking desperately to drown it all away with drugs.

One day, in what only can be construed as a perceived tragic end to my life story God brought a very familiar and special person to my doorstep with really no notice whatsoever. From my perspective, it was just a random drop but in God's perfect timing it turned out to be far from random. The man, who I had not seen since I was just a child came bearing a message. A message of Good News of hope, love, and salvation.

I remember the evening of that day was extremely chaotic and in the midst of feelings of torment, pain, and despair, God's Word penetrated through it all and spoke to me that night in a way that I never heard before. I made the decision to take a daring leap of faith and trust in God's promise of salvation and accept His Son, Jesus into my heart.

To be honest, I woke up the following day feeling in no way earth-shatteringly different. I was nearly exactly the same person as I was the day before. Although, I can now say that I can remember being impacted by the presence of the Holy Spirit that continues to guide me today.

I quickly learned that accepting Christ into my heart was just the beginning of a lifelong decision and process of what I can only describe today as the restoration of an old beat-up, rusted, and discarded piece of junk. God had a lot of work that needed to be done in me. And one of the biggest challenges I faced was overcoming a mountain of hurt and pain resulting from a lifetime of abusive and hurtful people in my life. At the time I had no idea how to deal with this problem other than just keep taking the hurt and in turn hurting others in the process.

Around that time Jon Farr began to share with me his own personal experiences dealing with hurtful people. He shared valuable concepts such as the cycle of fear, hurt, and pain, authentic forgiveness vs. fake forgiveness, personality types, and the mirror love. He called it Break Free. It became very clear to me early on that God had given this man a very special and unique gift and wanted him to share it with as many people as possible. There was something very different about what he was sharing that made sense when nothing else did. I had spent most of my life-time searching for solutions to my problems and no self-help book I had read or counseling I had received provided any real lasting or meaningful change in my life. Break free was undeniably different...

Learning the biblical concepts presented in Break Free was just the beginning since nothing really changes until they are applied inwardly and outwardly to one's life and relationships and this proved to be one of the more difficult areas for me. The good news is I didn't have to do it alone. There are few things sweeter in life than having a battle buddy by your side when you're going up against some stinky, ugly, and scary, dragons. Maybe it's the trust, the encouragement, the love, the brotherhood/sisterhood, or all of the above that makes them so valuable and irreplaceable in those moments. This is what I truly love most about Break Free. Overwhelming challenges all of a sudden became much more bearable and conquerable with a battle buddy. Progression and growth are accelerated. Personally, my relationships went from difficult and painful to peaceful and enjoyable, and not only was I able to observe this change in my life but I was also able to see it in the lives of others also using break free in their lives.

Today, thanks to a gracious and loving God, His son Jesus Christ, and the love of others I am a new and redeemed man. My life is not perfect, I still deal with my fair share of challenges and battles but I am learning each day to trust in God and His promises, love the people He has put into my life (with a godly kind of love), full of compassion, grace, joy, accountability, and free of fear. The concepts I learned from Break Free are just as valuable to me today as when I was first introduced to them and have become an invaluable addition to my arsenal for a right daily living.

I'm not sure where you are in your life at this moment, and if for some reason you've managed to read all the way down to this point, my hope is that my story has been an encouragement to you in some way or another. If you're someone who's been struggling with the cycle of fear, hurt, and pain and you're tired of struggling through life then I want you to know there is hope. I want you to know that God intended for you to be free. He did not intend for you to be locked away in a mental prison. I want to encourage you to seize the moment, open your wings, and break free into what God has waiting for you and your life. I pray that you will be victorious and the love of Christ will always light your path.