What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Abimbola Balogun. I am currently doing my Masters at the University of Warwick in Business (Accounting and Finance). I also am a blogger.
How long have you been a Christian?
I have been a Christian all my life (that is if you are asking for a box that I should tick off a list of options). I was born into a Christian family and it has been my religion since I was younger. However, I made the personal decision and gave my life to Christ 6 years ago.
When do you think you realised the responsibility thrust on you by being a Christian and how did you deal with it?
I gave my life to Christ 6 years ago. I had not fully understood the concept of having a relationship with God. It was still a religion thing for the most part. So I would go to church, read the bible every now and then and do the basic things a ‘Christian’ should do without understanding why. It was very easy for me to fall to the things of the world then and eventually, I did. I started to develop the mindset that it was only older people that could fully serve God. Then I went on a cruise about 3 years ago. I met a lot of young Christians who were serving God with all their heart. I was really shocked and surprised that it could actually happen. I wanted that so bad and I started reading my bible more and doing my devotion. I wouldn’t say that I completely turned to God then because it was still I trying to be right with God instead of letting go and letting him work on me.
Things still changed because the desire for God was there. I started going to church and reading the bible more and that’s when I started feeling convicted about a lot of things in my life. The best thing about convictions (vs. condemnation) is that it arouses a spiritual moroseness but it draws you closer to God and not away from him (condemnation does the opposite). I kept praying and I would go back to bad habits.. But I would still pray. I was at a point where I was going to give up, I knew what the bible said about lukewarm Christians and I knew I had to choose a side. That week I got a word that I held on to Romans 8:31 -39. This is the point when I understood God’s love and grace and I understood that in my weaknesses that is when God works best (2 Corinthians 12:9). He literally changed my life completely! Things of the world (partying, vanity, relationships that did not please God) that used to excite or have strong holds on me did not have that power anymore. I felt free and I felt loved. I also realised that God had intentionally put people in my life that would bring me closer to him. That is when I knew I could not go back, this was my life and nothing else had ever left me satisfied. I love Him and He is amazing!
What has/have been the greatest source(s) of struggle in your Christian life?
Well for a long time it was relationships both friendships and personal. I have a small group of friends, so I have a few friends. When I gave my life to Christ I knew things would change including my friendships. I wasn’t too bothered because most of my friends were Christians. But there were certain things that I couldn’t do again. There is a point in your Christian walk where you have to separate from the world and you experience this quiet time (I don’t know if everyone goes through this). But there were and still are certain things I don’t do i.e. go clubbing or get drunk. It’s very normal in our generation and it’s almost weird if you don’t do these things. I think explaining that to people was what I struggled with for a while. I didn’t want to sound stand off ish but at the same time I didn’t want to put anything before God. So when my friends had birthdays and wanted to go clubbing it would be awkward when I had to say No. I realised that after a while it became a good way to bring God up and sow a few seeds. The best part was that my really close friends started drawing closer to God, it was really amazing ‘cos it was like we were all on the journey together.
Still on relationships, I think the biggest struggle then was being with someone I really liked but having to end things because that relationship was not glorifying God. There was a lot of temptation and the flesh is weak but everything was a learning process that brought me to where I am now. I would say that right now fasting is a struggle ‘cos I LOVE food! But Abba and I are still working on that one.
You have a blog (Dating With Godliness). What made you create it and why did you decide to focus on a topic like Dating?
Yes I do. It’s a relationship blog basically focusing on
- The best relationship one can ever have, which is your relationship with God.
- How to date God’s way.
I know for a long time I wanted relationship advice and I am someone that likes finding things out myself. I would rather do my research than speak to someone about dating or most things. There were not a lot of relationship sites that focused on youth and dating God’s way (this is not the case anymore, by the way!) most of them were on marriage. So I had to read my bible and watch sermons and that is how I started preparing myself (unknowingly) to start a blog.
There are a lot of things that we struggle with in our youth and one of the main issues is relationships/ dating. Relationships are so important because it involves physical and emotional ties that sometimes get deeper than we expect and it’s hard to break out of. Most times people leave relationships broken or hurt and this is not what God wants for us. He wants us to guard our heart because out of it comes the abundance of life (Proverbs 4:23).
It’s so important because if your heart is broken or hurt you literally cannot function and you end up hurting others. This is why I decided to focus on relationships. If we know God’s standards on dating, we can have relationships that produce good fruits i.e. marriage. Even if things don’t work out we are not hurt or broken because we know who God has called us to be and what He wants for us. So through my blog, I want to encourage intentional, purposeful and God led relationships.
What stage do you think you are in your spiritual life?
I am at a place where, by Gods grace, I am completely sold out for Christ! I am learning to continually become a daughter of Christ, focusing on what he wants me to do for his kingdom. I am still growing though and he is teaching me and molding me to be more like Him everyday.
What do you hope to achieve with this gig?
The end goal is to draw people closer to God. I can relate to a lot of struggles we go through as young people trying to live for Christ. There is so much going on that sometimes we get so swamped by it and forget who we are in Christ. I want to address some of these issues and hopefully give people some biblical advice on how to go about them. I want to also encourage people that though it might not seem easy, God’s grace is sufficient to help us with every struggle we go through and He would draw us closer to Him, if it is our desire. I want to remind people that His love is the best and it would leave you so satisfied you would not hold on to anything else but Him.