The Power of Pivot: The Change of Heart

I have always been an avid romance reader since a friend introduced it to me. Most of my reading weight was romance books. I loved it and never thought I would ever stop, at least not willingly. These books exposed me to a lot of things that I even began internalizing. All my thoughts were that when I eventually stopped, it would be either because I was forced to or because I no longer had access to them. But fast forward to around 16 years old, I started noticing some holes in my life, not that they weren't there before, but that I couldn't ignore them anymore. Still, even while noticing these holes, I didn't stop because I felt it was already an integral part of me.

Fast-forward again to 17, and I decided I wanted to get right with God, so, by extension, the books had to go. Remember when I said that if I ever stopped, it would either be because I was forced or I no longer had access, yeah, that isn't what happened. What happened was that I just stopped. It was a radical change; it had to be for it to be effective. I returned all the romance books I had and told my friend I didn't want to hear anything about any romance book she was reading. It was hard at first, and there were slip-ups, but I pushed through and completely cut it off. I realized that I needed to change direction when these books would always lead me back to sin, despite my getting right with God. I hated the setbacks more than anything, so instead of being passive, I got angry at the books, at the setbacks, at the sin, which resulted in the radical change that followed.

This experience changed me for the better in ways I'm still figuring out today. It gave me more sensitivity in that whenever I heard anything about the books or the romance itself, I would feel a prick in my heart and an urge to get out of that environment immediately. It also led me closer to God because, since I wasn't reading so much in my free time anymore, I had time to study the word, pray, praise, or just exist in silence with my maker. My imagination and innovation also came back because now that I had time to think deeply, ideas would just flood my mind. All in all, I'm really happy I had this change of heart because I'm a better person and Christian for it, and in turn, inspired others to undergo this transformation as well.