A California woman recently credited Jesus for giving her the strength to walk away from drug abuse and alcohol addiction, promiscuity, and prostitution. In an interview with Delafé Testimonies, Whitney Harris said she was raised in a Christian home with two parents as missionaries. However, when she turned 12, she started resenting Christianity.

Because of her resentment, Harris resisted Christianity while dealing with low self-esteem, depression, and body image issues. She began to resent life because she felt she had no purpose. After being diagnosed with depression as a teen, Harris developed a rebellious spirit against authority, including her parents and teachers. Harris said, “Anything that my flesh wanted to do, I wanted to do that. And I realized that with Christianity, there were so many rules, in a sense, like we couldn’t drink, smoke, hook up with people. It was the world that I wanted to live in.”

Harris started cutting classes and smoking cigarettes in high school. Eventually, she started drinking alcohol, smoking weed, and hanging out with the wrong crowd. At 18, she completed one semester at community college, then dropped out. Harris recalled, “I just wanted to say, ‘I don’t need school. I don’t need this.’ I could just live however I wanted to. So at that time, I started living with some people.”

Harris moved to Arizona with her group of friends. Two weeks after moving, she received a DUI for driving while drunk and underaged. She then went to jail. “At that point, I said, ‘this is it; no one is ever going to hire me. This is bad that I got a DUI at this age. My car is taken [away], and I got really low. And this is when I started to really not care, just not care about anything, my life, anyone,” Harris said.

One of Harris’ housemates gave her pills, introducing her to abusing many substances. Eventually, she developed “a full-blown addiction,” leading her to engage in prostitution. Harris became homeless as she needed money to afford her drug habit, going in and out of rehab. According to Harris, withdrawal symptoms were one of the most challenging aspects of drug addiction.

Eventually, she ended up at a Christian rehabilitation center, where she recalled feeling the love of God because the women at the center treated her with unconditional love. Around that time, she discovered she was pregnant and decided to give her baby up for adoption. Four years since that time, Harris reports being sober. She now attends Liberty University’s nursing program and credits Jesus for helping her overcome her addictions and lead a life following His will for her life.

Harris said, “There are so many words that I could use to describe Jesus. He’s my Savior, my Redeemer, my Healer. He’s who gave me life. He’s who loves me enough to take me from darkness and just place me in His light.”

“He’s full of mercy towards people towards me, and He’s my everything, and I’m here just to live for Him and to glorify His name here on earth until I see Him in Heaven. When I met Jesus, I knew that I have a purpose now.”