I wish I could promise that all your problems will vanish if you give your life to Jesus, but I can’t, because it may not turn out that way. Bad decisions always have bad consequences — and even when God forgives them, the consequences may still remain.

But don’t misunderstand me. The most important decision you will ever make is to turn your life over to Jesus Christ — and it also will be the wisest decision you’ll ever make. Why is this? For one thing, God wants to give you the strength to deal with your circumstances and not be overcome by them. He also wants to give you wisdom to deal with your problems, instead of making them worse through more bad decisions. Most of all, He wants to forgive your past and give you hope for the future.

How is this possible? It’s possible because God sent His Son into the world to forgive our sins and defeat the evil in our lives. When we leave God out of our lives, we cut ourselves off from His love and help. But God loves us and wants to change us. And He will, as we turn our lives over to Jesus Christ.

The Bible’s promise is for you: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). May you discover this for yourself, by asking Christ to come into your life today.