Jesus my Friend
testimony by MARTIN KRALJEVIC
illustrations by ELIZABETH TANG
My name is Martin, and this is a testimony of my own journey of growing in friendship with Jesus. I come from a family of 4 including my parents and my younger brother. Being baptised as a Catholic since I was born; others have always taught me that Jesus was something important in my life. However, despite going for catechism class, confirmation camp and weekly masses; I never really understood what it meant to be in friendship with Jesus. As such, like the crowd in the story of the paralytic man; I chose to love Jesus from a distance, observing Him from afar. Often resorting to doing the bare minimums of my faith; eventually choosing to stop coming to church after confirmation.
This all changed in 2019, where I was invited by my brothers and sisters from my catechism batch, to attend an OYP retreat for Poly/ITE/Private diploma students. It was at this retreat where I came to know who Jesus truly is. A God that will fight my battles, a God that will do anything to come and save me, the one lost sheep. At that moment, I truly felt loved by Jesus; loving me for who I am and not what I can do or offer. I realised that my faith wasn’t with this lonely journey towards discovering this distant God; but a personal and close relationship with this Friend, Jesus, who desired to walk with me in this journey of life. It was this realisation that slowly made me stop being like the crowd and want to grow closer with Jesus; entering into a deeper friendship with him, letting him into more areas of my life.
With that said, choosing to remain in this friendship with Jesus is not always an easy one. There are still many areas of my life where I still lack the courage to let Jesus in. One of them is in the relationships I have with my family members. Especially in the rocky relationship, I have had with my mum since young. Which has been slowly worsening over the years, resulting in quarrels at home over the smallest of stuff. Furthermore, because she isn’t Catholic, I found it increasingly difficult to share my faith with her. This often made me feel hopeless and lonely at home, fearful of the judgements my family and others had about me and my desire to follow Jesus more closely.
However, just like the paralytic man; who had friends to bring him to Jesus – Jesus has blessed and continues to shower with me the gift of community. Surrounding me with like-minded individuals, that continuously point me towards him. During the times where I struggled with this sense of hopelessness in my relationships at home, these friends often held a safe space for me to be heard. From their small acts of listening and subsequently also praying for me; their presence in my life reminded me of how Jesus continues to walk with me through my struggles. That I am not abandoned by him but rather held even more closely by him through my friends in the community.
Furthermore, the gift of community also begins to reveal how Jesus not only walks with me but also desires to restore and heal the relationships in my life. Through these friends, I am constantly challenged to seek Jesus first in whatever I do; encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and pursue Christ more intentionally in my life. With their help and through Christ; I become like the 4 friends of the paralytic, now able to share my faith with my family with much greater conviction. Not only speaking about my faith in general; but also revealing who Jesus is, to them, through the way I approach situations at home. Recently, this has taken the form of committing myself to help around the house more. From taking care of some of the household chores to actively volunteering to take care of stuff for my parents; I ease the stress and burden my mum has at home.
Of course, I’m still far from perfect; being lazy at times to do things or doing things just for some ulterior motive. However, in these moments; I always recall the great things that Jesus has done for me and allow him to purify my intentions again. Reminding and claiming for myself that it is not I who live but Christ who lives through me; through pursuing and subsequently letting Jesus change my life, I also begin to create space for the Lord to extend his invitation of friendship to my family. So my friends, what are you waiting for? Will you allow the Lord to enter your heart and befriend you today?
Jesus my Friend
testimony by MARTIN KRALJEVIC
illustrations by ELIZABETH TANG
My name is Martin, and this is a testimony of my own journey of growing in friendship with Jesus. I come from a family of 4 including my parents and my younger brother. Being baptised as a Catholic since I was born; others have always taught me that Jesus was something important in my life. However, despite going for catechism class, confirmation camp and weekly masses; I never really understood what it meant to be in friendship with Jesus. As such, like the crowd in the story of the paralytic man; I chose to love Jesus from a distance, observing Him from afar. Often resorting to doing the bare minimums of my faith; eventually choosing to stop coming to church after confirmation.
This all changed in 2019, where I was invited by my brothers and sisters from my catechism batch, to attend an OYP retreat for Poly/ITE/Private diploma students. It was at this retreat where I came to know who Jesus truly is. A God that will fight my battles, a God that will do anything to come and save me, the one lost sheep. At that moment, I truly felt loved by Jesus; loving me for who I am and not what I can do or offer. I realised that my faith wasn’t with this lonely journey towards discovering this distant God; but a personal and close relationship with this Friend, Jesus, who desired to walk with me in this journey of life. It was this realisation that slowly made me stop being like the crowd and want to grow closer with Jesus; entering into a deeper friendship with him, letting him into more areas of my life.
Hello everyone, my name is Martin, and today I will be sharing with you a testimony of my own journey of growing in friendship with Jesus. But before that a bit about myself, I come from a family of 4 including my parents and my younger brother. Being baptised as a Catholic since I was born; others have always taught me that Jesus was something important in my life. However, despite going for catechism class, confirmation camp and weekly masses; I never really understood what it meant to be in friendship with Jesus. As such, like the crowd in the story of the paralytic man; I chose to love Jesus from a distance, observing Him from afar. Often resorting to doing the bare minimums of my faith; eventually choosing to stop coming to church after confirmation.
This all changed in 2019, where I was invited by my brothers and sisters from my catechism batch, to attend an OYP retreat for Poly/ITE/Private diploma students. It was at this retreat where I came to know who Jesus truly is. A God that will fight my battles, a God that will do anything to come and save me, the one lost sheep. At that moment, I truly felt loved by Jesus; loving me for who I am and not what I can do or offer. I realised that my faith wasn’t with this lonely journey towards discovering this distant God; but a personal and close relationship with this Friend, Jesus, who desired to walk with me in this journey of life. It was this realisation that slowly made me stop being like the crowd and want to grow closer with Jesus; entering into a deeper friendship with him, letting him into more areas of my life.
With that said, choosing to remain in this friendship with Jesus is not always an easy one. There are still many areas of my life where I still lack the courage to let Jesus in. One of them is in the relationships I have with my family members. Especially in the rocky relationship, I have had with my mum since young. Which has been slowly worsening over the years, resulting in quarrels at home over the smallest of stuff. Furthermore, because she isn’t Catholic, I found it increasingly difficult to share my faith with her. This often made me feel hopeless and lonely at home, fearful of the judgements my family and others had about me and my desire to follow Jesus more closely.
However, just like the paralytic man; who had friends to bring him to Jesus – Jesus has blessed and continues to shower with me the gift of community. Surrounding me with like-minded individuals, that continuously point me towards him. During the times where I struggled with this sense of hopelessness in my relationships at home, these friends often held a safe space for me to be heard. From their small acts of listening and subsequently also praying for me; their presence in my life reminded me of how Jesus continues to walk with me through my struggles. That I am not abandoned by him but rather held even more closely by him through my friends in the community.
Furthermore, the gift of community also begins to reveal how Jesus not only walks with me but also desires to restore and heal the relationships in my life. Through these friends, I am constantly challenged to seek Jesus first in whatever I do; encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone and pursue Christ more intentionally in my life. With their help and through Christ; I become like the 4 friends of the paralytic, now able to share my faith with my family with much greater conviction. Not only speaking about my faith in general; but also revealing who Jesus is, to them, through the way I approach situations at home. Recently, this has taken the form of committing myself to help around the house more. From taking care of some of the household chores to actively volunteering to take care of stuff for my parents; I ease the stress and burden my mum has at home.
Of course, I’m still far from perfect; being lazy at times to do things or doing things just for some ulterior motive. However, in these moments; I always recall the great things that Jesus has done for me and allow him to purify my intentions again. Reminding and claiming for myself that it is not I who live but Christ who lives through me; through pursuing and subsequently letting Jesus change my life, I also begin to create space for the Lord to extend his invitation of friendship to my family. So my friends, what are you waiting for? Will you allow the Lord to enter your heart and befriend you today?
