The Love of God Transforms a Prostitute

“I grew up without the love of God and with hate in me from that lack of love. I became desperate for money, for shelter, and for food—so desperate that I became a prostitute.

“A wealthy and powerful Cuban man kept coming to me for sex, and as we became friends I learned he was a Mafia man. He gave me work to help him in his drug dealings. I was paid well for what I did. Was I satisfied? Well, I tried to appreciate my money, my things, my power, but it was all so dissatisfying. Perhaps I needed religion to help me have satisfaction.

Looking for love

“How disappointed I was when I went back to my Catholic church because it reminded me that I had become an immoral woman. Guilt bothered me, making me feel unclean and therefore unloved and judged by God. No matter how many times I confessed my sins, my guilty feelings just kept on bothering me. I became disgusted with religion.

“I turned to alcohol,” Lucy continues.” “For a few hours I was soothed of my guilt. Before I knew it, I was an alcoholic. My Mafia boyfriend was shot dead by rival drug dealers, and those same killers wanted me dead. Fear gripped me. I fled to another city to hide.

“There a woman introduced me to her pastor,” she says. “He read John 3:16. He asked me to read it. He said nothing as I sat there thinking about John 3:16— for God so loved me that He gave His son for me. Me! Yes, I understood. With the pastor’s help I accepted Jesus Christ into my life. Immediately God changed me. First He forgave me of my sins, and I felt a cleansed woman. As for the worrisome guilt, it too had gone, and in its place was God’s peace. Then God filled me with His love.

“There a woman introduced me to her pastor,” she says. “He read John 3:16 from the Bible.” He asked me to read it. He said nothing as I sat there thinking about John 3:16— for God so loved me that He gave His son for me. Me! Yes, I understood the love of God.