"If I died while living the way I was; I would go to hell."

I've been in the Universal Church for almost 40 years, but all that time, I didn't have the Holy Spirit. I never truly surrendered my life for real. And over time, I got used to it. I became interested in what God could give me but the faith that saves was still a long way off.

That conquering faith gave me a car, a house, a business, trips to the beach, and the means to travel to other places.

My wife also came to church with me, but she took a different path than I did. She and our daughter became servants of God.

I started to enjoy what I had achieved, but in a completely wrong way. Instead of using my car to take my family to church, I used it for my own purposes, going on different trips. I even started missing Sunday services because of those trips.

There were things in my life that I started to see as normal: to lie and to have many female friends. And that's when the bigger problems started—I ended up cheating on my wife and being unfaithful in our marriage.

And during that time, I was in the church, being a faithful tither and giving offerings. Because I had asked God for forgiveness—not out of repentance, but out of remorse—and even with tears coming from my eyes, I thought everything was fine.

And I kept doing the same things. There was unfaithfulness in many forms for over 30 years, and God kept giving me chances, saving me from situations where I almost died. Until the day came when my time ran out.

It got to the point where I started feeling really bad inside. It was a constant oppression that never went away, day or night. I would wake up with a tight feeling, as if something was squeezing my neck, and I started having chest pains.

Eventually, I discovered that I had a serious heart condition. I knew that if I died while living the way I was; I would go to hell. That's when I began to realize my true spiritual condition.

There came a moment when I poured myself out before God. I told Him everything I had done and that I didn't want to live that way anymore.

I decided to confess everything to my wife. I was baptized in water, and after 70 Campaigns of Faith, I took part in one campaign focused on my salvation.

I gave what I had never given before. I left a job that wasn't good for me, and I surrendered my soul on the Altar.

Then my heart condition worsened to the point that I needed open-heart surgery. While I was in the hospital, I was left alone, and that's when I spoke to God:

"My God, I feel alone. But dying isn't the problem if I receive Your Holy Spirit."

I sought Him, and at that moment, God came into my life and changed everything.

One of the first things I did after my surgery was talk about Jesus to the people around me. It was as though I went to sleep one way and woke up as a child. The greatest surgery was the one performed by the Spirit of God in my life.

Today, I am completely different. There has been a total change in my mindset, behavior, conduct, and vision. I now have a desire to win souls and serve God.

— Paulo Roberto