Jesus sets free: my story
There is one thing I want to share: Jesus changed my life.
When I speak of freedom, I mean very concrete things: alcohol, pornography, excessive coffee drinking, emotional dependency and impulsive purchases. I also think of the emptiness I felt inside.
In my testimony, I want to tell how God came to meet me, the place my wife had in that journey and what my baptism meant to me.
A patient presence by my side
My wife played an essential part in my return to God.
She brought me to that community where, at first, I did not feel I belonged. I looked at the people around me and wondered whether I should stay or leave. That struggle was real.
What helped me stay was my love for her, but also her patience and her love for me. Our love.
Looking back, I recognise her presence as one way God was working in my life. She prayed for me. Those prayers and that patience are very much part of my story.
When I read that love is patient and kind, as Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, I think of her.
The day before my baptism
To understand what my baptism meant, I need to say something without hiding it: the day before, I was still heavily intoxicated.
That is part of my testimony. I do not want to erase it to make my story look better.
Alcohol was still present in my life on the eve of that important day. Yet it was in that reality that I experienced God’s grace. I received his love and mercy. I experienced that baptism as a liberation, as the beginning of a renewed life with Jesus.
The emptiness I had felt inside had given way to something I had been seeking deeply: peace.
A saying of Jesus expresses what this freedom means to me. The quotation below is kept in the original French, from the Segond 21 translation:
« Si donc le Fils vous libère, vous serez réellement libres. »
One day for my faith and our marriage
The day of my baptism was also the day of our marriage before God.
For me, these two events are deeply connected. That day, I embraced our commitment with all my heart. Our union took on an essential spiritual dimension: we were moving forward together, with God at the centre of our lives.
The words in Genesis about a man and a woman becoming one flesh took on a personal meaning.
And, as I said with a smile in my testimony: you make better progress with two legs than with just one!
That image holds all the gratitude I feel for my wife, for her love and for the path we share.
The chains I felt freed from
When I wrote my testimony in 2025, I could name the dependencies from which I felt delivered by God’s grace: alcohol; excessive coffee drinking; pornography; emotional dependency; impulsive purchases.
Behind those words were behaviours that had taken up too much space in my life.
I recognise God’s help in that transformation. The ease with which I was able to leave those dependencies behind left a deep impression on me. I could not tell of that change without giving him thanks.
This is my personal experience, and I share it with this conviction: Jesus set me free.
Finding the momentum to move forward
That transformation also accompanied a new momentum in my physical life.
I lost eight kilos and was preparing to run a half-marathon, aiming to finish in under two hours. That goal mattered to me because, not long before, injuries from my younger years and my damaged ankle had prevented me from running at all.
Being able to prepare for such a challenge meant a great deal.
Other events deepened my gratitude. In particular, some equipment that had been stolen from me was returned. Through the eyes of faith, those moments found their place in this journey of restoration.
Faith in everyday actions
When I was young, I prayed every evening. Prayer already had a place in my life.
Through what I experienced, I rediscovered how essential it was for me. Praying means turning to God, entrusting my life to him and recognising that I need him.
That faith also reaches into my most practical responsibilities.
I want to be a father who sets an example. I want to honour God in my work, in the way I act and in the care I put into what I do. I want to put God first and let that relationship guide my choices.
It is through these everyday actions that I want to live out what I believe.
Why I share my story
I tell my story to give thanks to God and to bear witness to what I have experienced.
My wife, her prayers, her patience, our love, my baptism and our commitment before God hold an essential place in this story.
The message I shared in 2025 was simple: I had discovered a joy and a peace I did not need to seek in alcohol. I recognised their source in Jesus.
That is the message of hope I want to share through this site.
Jesus sets free. For me, these words tell of a transformation I have lived.