作者：杜吉平、付静争
编辑：李晶 校对：熊辩 翻译：周敏
每当复活节临近，我的心里总会多一份安静，也多一份思考。这是一个让人不能不去面对的时刻：关于苦难，关于牺牲，也关于盼望。
两千多年前，耶稣基督被钉在十字架上。这不是一场偶然的悲剧，而是他甘愿为世人承担罪的代价。他用爱回应仇恨，用牺牲换来救赎。
三天之后，他从死里复活。也正因为如此，复活节对基督徒来说，不只是一个节日，更是信仰的核心。它告诉我们：黑暗不是终点，死亡不是结局，绝望之中仍有盼望。
对我而言，复活节从来不只是圣经中的故事，也不只是宗教传统中的纪念。它已经真实地进入了我的生命，也进入了我的家庭。
2024年的复活节，是我永远难忘的日子。那一天，我和我的太太一同受洗归主。我们在神面前作出决定：愿意用余生来相信他、跟随他、依靠他。
那是我们人生中一个重要的转折。从那一天起，我们知道，自己不再只是凭着人的力量去面对未来，而是愿意把生命交托在神的手中。
到了同年的圣诞节，我们的两个儿子也受洗了。当我们一家人先后走进洗礼的水中时，我心里有一种说不出的感动。因为我知道，这不只是一个仪式，而是一个家庭在信仰中的回应，也是神恩典临到我们家的印记。
从那以后，我们这个家不再只是一个普通的家庭，而是一个愿意以信仰为中心、以神的话语为依靠的家庭。
当然，信仰并没有让现实生活一下子变得轻松。我们一样会遇到压力，一样会面对困难，也一样会经历迷茫和不安。但不同的是，信仰让我们在这些处境中，心里有了真正的安定。
因为我们渐渐明白，人的环境会改变，世界局势也会动荡不安，但神没有改变，他依然掌权。
这些年的经历也让我更加清楚地看到，真正的信仰并不总是被这个世界理解。尤其在我出生和成长的地方，信仰常常会被误解，甚至受到限制。也正因为如此，我们更加珍惜今天所拥有的信仰自由，珍惜能够自由敬拜、自由祷告、自由见证主名的机会。
这种珍惜，不只是出于环境的对比，更是因为我们越来越知道，真正的信仰不是外在的形式，而是一个人内心深处那份不能被夺走的光。
十字架在人看来，似乎是失败，但在神的旨意中，却成为救赎的开始。复活在人看来，似乎是不可能，但正是这“不可能”，给人类带来了永恒的盼望。
今天，当我再次思想耶稣基督为世人受难、并从死里复活的时候，我更加明白：我们并不是因为人生一切顺利才相信信仰，恰恰是在不确定之中，在风浪之中，在看不清前路的时候，我们仍然选择相信。
作为一个丈夫、一个父亲、一个普通人，我没有能力去改变这个世界的一切，但我可以先从自己的家庭开始。
我可以选择在家中活出爱，可以选择在孩子面前持守信仰，也可以选择在这个充满变化的时代里，不否认我所相信的真理。
这个世界若真的需要光，那就从每一个愿意相信、愿意坚持的人开始。也许我们都很平凡，但当一个人愿意在十字架前谦卑下来，愿意把生命交给神，那样的生命，就会发出光来。
在这个复活节，我愿再次向主献上我的心志：无论顺境逆境，无论明天如何，我都愿意继续跟随你。因为我相信，十字架不是结束，复活才是答案；而在主里面的人，也终究不会失去盼望。
Before the Cross, I Choose to Believe
——An Easter Witness from a Christian Family
Author: Du Jiping, Fu Jingzheng
Editor: Li Jing Proofreader: Xiong Bian Translator: Zhou Min
Whenever Easter approaches, my heart always gains an extra measure of quietness and an extra measure of reflection. This is a moment that one cannot avoid facing: regarding suffering, regarding sacrifice, and also regarding hope.
More than two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross. This was not an accidental tragedy, but his willingness to bear the price of sin for the world. He responded to hatred with love and exchanged sacrifice for redemption.
Three days later, he rose from the dead. It is precisely because of this that Easter, for Christians, is not just a holiday, but the core of faith. It tells us: darkness is not the end, death is not the conclusion, and in the midst of despair, there is still hope.
To me, Easter has never been just a story in the Bible, nor just a commemoration in religious tradition. It has truly entered my life and entered my family.
Easter of 2024 is a day I will never forget. On that day, my wife and I were baptized together and returned to the Lord. We made a decision before God: we are willing to use the rest of our lives to believe in Him, follow Him, and rely on Him.
That was an important turning point in our lives. From that day on, we knew that we were no longer facing the future relying solely on human strength, but were willing to entrust our lives into the hands of God.
By Christmas of the same year, our two sons were also baptized. When our family, one after another, stepped into the waters of baptism, I felt an indescribable emotion in my heart. Because I knew that this was not just a ritual, but a family’s response in faith, and a mark of God’s grace coming upon our home.
From then on, our home was no longer just an ordinary family, but a family willing to be centered on faith and reliant on the Word of God.
Of course, faith did not make real life suddenly become easy. We still encounter pressure, still face difficulties, and still experience confusion and unease. But the difference is that faith allows us to have true stability in our hearts within these situations.
Because we have gradually come to understand that human environments will change, and the global situation will be turbulent and unstable, but God has not changed; He is still in control.
The experiences of these years have also allowed me to see more clearly that true faith is not always understood by this world. Especially in the place where I was born and grew up, faith is often misunderstood or even restricted. Because of this, we cherish even more the freedom of belief we have today, and the opportunity to worship freely, pray freely, and witness the name of the Lord freely.
This cherishing is not just out of a contrast in environments, but even more because we know more and more that true faith is not an external form, but the light deep within a person’s heart that cannot be taken away.
The cross seems like failure in the eyes of man, but in the will of God, it became the beginning of redemption. Resurrection seems impossible in the eyes of man, but it is precisely this “impossibility” that has brought eternal hope to humanity.
Today, when I once again contemplate Jesus Christ suffering for the world and rising from the dead, I understand even more: we do not believe in faith because everything in life goes smoothly; rather, it is in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of wind and waves, and when we cannot see the road ahead clearly, that we still choose to believe.
As a husband, a father, and an ordinary person, I do not have the ability to change everything in this world, but I can start first with my own family.
I can choose to live out love in the home, choose to uphold faith before my children, and choose not to deny the truth I believe in during this era full of change.
If this world truly needs light, let it start from every person who is willing to believe and willing to persist. Perhaps we are all very ordinary, but when a person is willing to humble themselves before the cross and willing to give their life to God, that kind of life will emit light.
On this Easter, I am willing to once again offer my resolve to the Lord: whether in prosperity or adversity, no matter what tomorrow holds, I am willing to continue following You. Because I believe the cross is not the end, resurrection is the answer; and those who are in the Lord will, after all, not lose hope.
