The Man iN
the by MirRoR
Dwain Ross
I want to begin this testimony by giving thanks
to my Lord Jesus Christ, who has brought me out
of darkness and into His marvelous light. I am not
worthy of the many gifts the Lord has bestowed
upon me, especially of His gift of life. You see, I
was an enemy of the cross, and I did not even
know it (Romans 5:10).
I was raised in a Christian family and grew
up going to church. As a young person, I was
convinced that I had given my life to Christ, but
now I can see there was no real repentance or
genuine commitment to God at that point in my
life. I wanted the blessings, but I did not want
to give up my old life for a new one. What I did
not know was that God had already blessed me
and was using those blessings to draw me unto
Himself.
My mother was a loving and God-fearing
woman. She was a single mom with few resources,
yet she took care of her three sons the best she
could with wit
what the Lord had given
her. She Sh
made sure I graduated from
high
high school and kept me out of
tro
trouble all my adolescent life.
I was looking forward to going
t
to college on a football or wrestling
scholarship, but then I injured my right
ankle, and my dream was shattered. I
became deceived into thinking that the
only future I had was left to sell dope. So
t
that’s exactly what I did.
As an adult, I found myself intoxicated by
and and
addicted to my new lifestyle. It was not long
be
before I was using the same drugs that I sold. My
d
drug of choice was crack cocaine, but I used others
too—meth, ecstasy, opium, heroine, oxycodone,
Xanax, and powder cocaine.
It dOesn’T maKe sEnse to The
NatuRal Man That god couLd
Or wOuld use a lOw-lIfe,
Good-for-notHing perSon To
AccoMpliSh sOmetHing greAt fOr
His KingDom. but he Does.
I lied, stole money, and even took a big screen
TV from my mother. I broke into a friend’s clothing
store twice and took whatever I could get my
hands on. I burglarized my next-door neighbor’s
house and stole everything that had value for
dope. To top it all off, I stole from, lied to, and
cheated on my wife—yet she continually forgave
me despite my shortcomings.
I found I could no longer trust myself. In fact,
I hated what I saw when I looked in the mirror.
Who was that man? I wanted to destroy the image
in the mirror. I was on a road to destruction and
didn’t know how to stop.
And then I robbed a store and ended up in the
county jail, facing a life sentence. The weight and
burden of my sin finally became too heavy to bear.
I broke down and sincerely gave my life to Christ.
And do you know what God did? He gave
me His unconditional and undeserved love and
forgiveness. There was no condemnation or
judgment for what I had done, only grace. He
picked me up and shattered the mirror’s dreaded
image. The Lord gave me a new identity, a new
talk, a new walk, a new vision, and a new mission.
Now I am a redeemed, blood- bought son of God.
In 2010, the Lord called me to the ministry. I did
not think that God could use a former crack addict
to handle and preach the Word to His people, but
God confirmed my calling and told me to trust
Him.
Since then, He has done some marvelous things
in my life. Currently, I am a licensed minister and
co-laborer with many other men of God here at
Avon Park Work Camp. I have been healed, and
God has used me to heal others. I have seen many
men give their lives to Christ through what we are
doing here at this prison.
It doesn’t make sense to the natural man that
God could or would use a low-life, good-fornothing
person to accomplish something great for
His kingdom. But He does. God chooses to use for
His glory the things the world considers foolish,
powerless, and despised. (See 1 Corinthians
1:27–28.)
God’s Word is true, and anything that is contrary
to it is a lie. My past said that I would never amount
to anything good. But God’s Word says that I am
more than a conqueror despite my past (Romans
8:37). Now, when I look in the mirror, I no longer
see me. I see the image of Christ, and I absolutely
love what I see. Jesus Christ has made me right
with God. He has made me pure and holy, and
He has freed me from my sin (1 Corinthians 1:30).
Because of Him, the reflection in my mirror is one
of a new man. Praise God!
nt to giving t
brought
rvelous light
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