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by Dr. MaryAnn Diorio

August 2, 2025

Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Saturday, August 2, 2025, and this is episode #11 in Series 2025. This episode is titled, Life’s Most Important Decision.

Well, have you made life’s most important decision? Do you even know what it is?

You may be thinking, Dr.MaryAnn, stop playing games with me. What are you talking about? What is life’s most important decision?

I’m so glad you asked. Now, before I answer your question, I want you first to pay close attention to what I’m about to say. I want you to pay attention for your sake, not mine. Because you see, I’ve already made life’s most important decision. I made it 55 years ago, and, as a result, I have experienced peace, joy, and love ever since.

Now, I don’t mean I haven’t had problems since then. In fact, I’ve had many problems, and some very serious ones. But in the midst of every problem, I’ve experienced peace, joy, and love.

So, let’s get to the point. What is life’s most important decision?

It is the decision to be born again. Now, if that term makes you cringe, then you need to hear this more than anyone.

Years ago, when I was in my early twenties, a young woman named Margo asked me the question, “Have you been born again?”

I looked at her as though she had two heads and replied, “I’ve never heard the term ‘born again.’ What do you mean?”

She went on to explain that to be born again is to be reconnected to God and to be restored to the original state in which God created Adam and Eve.

Again, this time I looked at her as though she had four heads. I didn’t even know I had been disconnected from God, so why would I need to be reconnected? Moreover,
what she said was foreign to all that i had been taught growing up.

“Margo,” I said, “I respect your belief system, but it’s not for me. I’m Catholic.”

At the time, I was still under the erroneous belief that only Catholics went to Heaven and that I needed to stay as far away as possible from all things “Protestant.”

An expression of deep sadness crossed Margo’s face. “I will pray for you,” she said. The look in her eyes reflected a love I had never seen before in anyone’s eyes. It touched me to the core.

A few years later, after much personal searching, I finally did make the decision to be born again. And it transformed my life.

So, like me 55 years ago, you may be asking, “What does it mean to be born again?”

It means to be reconnected to God Who created you and originally intended for you to be connected to Him forever. It means to accept Jesus Christ as the only one who can do the reconnecting.

You see, my friend, when God created Adam and Eve, they were perfect. They had everything going for them: health, abundance, love, joy, and peace. They also had a free will. Sadly, they used that free will to turn against God and to go their own way. This foolish decision ended up disconnecting them from God and connecting them to Satan. It opened them up to the eternal punishment of Hell when they died.

By rebelling against God’s command not to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they got a good look at what evil is, and they experienced it firsthand. They also gave over their rule over this world to Satan. Satan is now the god of this world and the source of everything that is evil in it.

But God was deeply saddened by Adam and Eve’s rebellion. He also knew they could never get out of the mess they created on their own. So He sent His Son Jesus Christ to get them out of the mess.

And He did!

That’s what the Crucifxion and the Resurrection are all about. In dying on the Cross, Jesus took the punishment for our sin that we deserved to take. What is that punishment? It’s an eternity of torment in the fires of Hell, forever separated from God.

In rising from the dead, Jesus proved to the world that He is not only fully man but that He is also fully God, and that He was completely qualified to take the punishment for sin on our behalf. Now He is offering to you what He did for you. He is offering to you a clean slate in the form of a gift called “salvation.”

But the only catch is that you have to receive the gift of salvation if you want to experience it. If you don’t receive it, it won’t be yours.

Receiving the gift is called being born again. It is the only way to be reconnected to God and to go to Heaven when you die. Jesus Himself said, “Unless a person is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Won’t you accept Christ’s gift of a clean slate right now? He is offering it to you because He loves you.

Today, I know that the look in Margo’s eyes was the reflection of that love of Jesus Christ within her. Jesus wants you to experience the same love in your own life.

If you have not yet made the most important decision of your life to be born again, make it now. Pray this simple prayer with me from your heart:

Lord Jesus, I want to make the most important decision of my life right now. I want to be born again. I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe that You are the Son of God Who died for me and Who rose from the dead. I invite you now to come into my life to be my Savior and Lord. Thank you for paying the price for my sin. Thank You for reconnecting me to God the Father. Thank You for giving me the gift of eternal life. In Your Name I receive it now. Amen.

If you sincerely prayed this prayer from your heart, you are now a born-again child of God. You have been given an inheritance by God Himself that includes hope, peace, and joy. Write to me at drmaryannn@maryanndiorio.com, and I will send you a free PDF e-booklet titled After You’re Born Again.

In case you are not aware, I write heart-mending fiction that deals with the deepest issues of life. In my stories you will find characters just like you who struggle with what look like impossible problems and situations. Check out my books at my online bookstore at shop.maryanndiorio.com. That’s shop.maryanndiorio.com. 

Also, visit me on my other blog, The Relationship Road. There you will find valuable information on creating and cultivating healthful relationships based on God’s Word.

Winning with the Word is available on Apple Podcasts and other major podcast venues as well as on YouTube. Check out my YouTube channel at youtube.com/drmaryanndiorio.

Until next time, remember that God loves you just as you are and just where you are. Yet He doesn’t want to keep you there. As you live in Him, He will help you to keep on winning with the Word.

Copyright 2025 by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD. All Rights Reserved.