Growing up I was a normal teenager. I listened to rap, hip hop, r&b. I lost my virginity in high school. I disobeyed my parents. I skipped school on occasions… Just normal kid stuff.
As a sophomore in high school, I got my first car. During my lunch hour, I would go to various fast food restaurants to eat. While in my car, the radio station would play those oldies but goodies. After a while I got tired of listening to songs from the 70’s. I then started listening to the local gospel station during lunch because they had a talk show called the community forum. When I got out of school for the day, my radio would still be set for the gospel station. Being lazy, I would just leave it there, instead of changing it back to the rap/r&b station. After a while I got used to listening to gospel and listened less and less to that other stuff.
My junior year, I asked for a Student Bible for Christmas. The Bible had three reading plans. It had plan one, in which you would read on a specific subject for 2 weeks. It had plan two, in which you would read at least one chapter out of every book of the Bible, and its completion time was 6 months. It also had plan three, in which you read every chapter of every book of the Bible, and it took 3 years. I started out by reading plan one. Once through with that, I went on to read plan two.
When my senior year finally came around, I rarely listened to music other than gospel, and I had begun to read plan three. At the start of spring semester, I had totally given up all other music and I took my cd collection to school one day and just gave it away. I also decided not to watch R rated movies anymore. I had totally turned around my life.
Two years after graduating from high school, I finished reading the Bible, in its entirity. I also still only listen to gospel music, and do not watch R rated movies, or violent/vulgar shows on TV. I live in constant peace, and I am totally happy.
"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." —Ephesians 4:22–24
May God bless you and give you joy!