✨ My Life in God

It’s been three years since I started going to church ⛪. At first, church felt like a mental hospital to me. People were shouting and clapping everywhere, and I thought, “Oh my God, where have I ended up? 😱” I told myself, “I can never become like these people,” but now, three years later, I have become one of them, walking around saying Hallelujah (Praise the Lord) 😄. Even though I used to see Christians as crazy fanatics, I want to write about why I’ve changed, dividing into three parts: Fear, Truth, and Love.

Fear: Because He Lives, All Fear Is Gone

Right now, my life is operating in survival mode 🧟. That’s because I’ve gone all-in on my current AI startup with all my chips—my youthful energy, the little savings I’ve accumulated, my time—everything. From one perspective, it’s a somewhat risky decision. While my friends who studied with me at KAIST have graduated and joined tech giants like Google and Microsoft as AI researchers, I’m out here like a hungry wolf 🐺 hunting in a fierce snowstorm. When you can’t see prey in the snowstorm, fear begins to creep in. Can I even hunt prey? I’m not even an experienced wolf surviving in the wild. Looking at my previous life, I’ve always lived like a dog. When food is put in a bowl, I eat it and wait for someone to put food in the bowl again 😅. But now that I’ve just become a wolf, the human inside says, “Man, if you don’t hunt some prey like this, you’re going to starve to death as you are,” and bares his teeth, increasing his speed to catch prey.

But somehow, that fear feels very small to me and has disappeared. Interestingly, the snowstorm hasn’t subsided; on the contrary, it’s gotten worse. I haven’t caught a single prey, yet why has this fear disappeared? The reality is that if I don’t hunt prey, I’ll starve to death.

The reason that fear is gone is simple: Because He lives within me, all my fear has vanished 🙏. The Bible says “do not fear” many times (I’ve heard it’s 365 times). When He is inside me, I’ve stopped being afraid. Let the snowstorm rage as it will; it’s just making life more interesting. I have brothers and sisters in Christ. Most importantly, I have God. If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll just get a job in AI. If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll pursue a doctorate. When God is with you, there’s really nothing to fear. The main thing is that when you walk according to God’s plan, it doesn’t matter whether it snows or not.

Truth and Freedom: The Truth Will Set You Free

There’s a famous verse in the Bible:

“and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 ESV

I sometimes think about what my ultimate desire ✨ in life is. Why am I doing these things anyway? I believe my ultimate desire in life is to deeply understand the truth, to experience true, truly true freedom, to enjoy beautiful love, and to use the gifts given to me fully to make this world bloom, to penetrate the depths where not everyone can enter.

I believe most people end their lives having experienced very little of this true freedom and beautiful love. They live too busy in this world (I’m actually one of them). They settle for a little freedom. A little freedom means having a decent car and house 🏠, a stable monthly income 💰, generally having the financial means to travel here and there ✈️. This is important freedom that should exist in human life. But this is not the limit. This is not enough for me. I want to see beyond this. I want to penetrate deep into this world. I want to transcend the limits of this world and make it bloom even more in love.

So how do I reach this true freedom? The answer is in the Bible - “and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” We need to understand the truth. If our core foundation is built on truth, every building erected on it is solid 💪🏻. Because truth never changes and never breaks. If our core foundation is a lie, everything behind it will seem like a lie. Just like a building built on sand. That’s why we (especially we men) need to use all the gifts and resources given to us to make this world and our other half (women) bloom and flourish in the deepest possible love and truth 🌸.

Love: The Greatest Love Is “Sacrificing Yourself” ❤️‍🔥

The greatest lesson to be learned from Jesus’s death and resurrection is His great love ❤️. Because He loved us so much, He sacrificed Himself ✝️ and showed the greatest love. Even while being crucified to death:

“And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.” Luke 23:34 ESV

Even while they are crucifying Him, He is saying to forgive them, which is truly great love.

This great love can also be seen in the story of Adam and Eve. God told Adam:

“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17 ESV

But Eve, tempted by the serpent 🐍, eats from that fruit 🍎. Then Eve gives the fruit to Adam and Adam also eats. Actually, before Eve was created, Adam could have simply chosen not to eat that fruit. I mean, a man gave up his own rib to have her created, and that “other half” goes and eats from the one tree that was forbidden (seriously, women can be a handful! 😄). Once Eve has eaten, according to God’s word, she will surely die. My other half is surely going to die. What would a person who is very much in love do? I believe Adam ate it because he wanted to die with her (The Bible doesn’t say why Adam ate. But it says the serpent didn’t give the apple to Adam, Eve gave the apple). This is great love that sacrifices oneself. When my other half is about to die, Adam didn’t say “I won’t eat, no thanks, I don’t want to die.” Adam chose death with his beloved “other half” in order to be with her.

Likewise, the Bible gives very clear commands for husbands.

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” Ephesians 5:25 ESV

It says to love your wives as Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself. And it continues:

“In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” Ephesians 5:28 ESV

Here, the English translation says “should,” but the original Greek word used is ὀφείλουσιν (opheilousin), which literally means “to owe” or “to be in debt.” It doesn’t just say it’s nice to love your wives; it says you are obligated to love them—like a debt you must pay (I think one reason believing girls want to date believing guys is this 🤔). In other words, if you’re a true Christian man, you must fulfill these commands—there’s no choice. So the greatest form of love ❤️‍🔥 is to sacrifice yourself. I’m not saying all men should die together for their wives. But can you sacrifice everything you have (heart and mind, life, time, health…) for your other half? I ask myself this question (it’s a bit strange for women to ask themselves this question. Because the Bible gives different commands to wives). If I answer yes, it means I love that person very much. If I answer no, I think she’s not the one or I’m not ready yet. I’m very grateful that the Bible changes my perspective like this. This is my God-led life.

Looking back, my life has changed so much in the three years I’ve been led by God. There are also many other things that I didn’t write here. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that my life wouldn’t be enough.

Note: I think my faith life age has reached about the age of the boy above 👶. I’m so overexcited to see what I’ll be like when I continue to grow into adolescence ^^

If you’re not a believer but have read this far, I hope this post has shown you, even a little, one perspective on how a young Christian sees the world and has left you with some new thoughts.

Thank you for taking the time to read ^^

God bless you 🙏🏻