What I Did. What God Did.

What I Did. What God Did.

Jesus on the cross with the 2 others on his side
A story of great good emerging from great evil
I want to share my testimony with you. I want to share it to bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope that reading my testimony will bring another soul into the army of God.

Story section 1

My name is Reed Knutson. I was born in 2006, a hyper kid who always wanted to run or at least move, once I could of course. Yes, I had ADHD. I was hopping from medication to medication, trialing all of them to see which one worked for my ADHD in elementary school. I don't really remember much of elementary school, though, I’m not sure if most people remember that far back at age 20 but anyways. I believe my memory loss is due to the excessive number of seizures. I just remember I never did my homework and always played hard. I was also a soccer kid. I played recreational soccer and eventually moved on to club soccer. I was pretty good, but I lacked a lot of necessary confidence.

Story section 2

By sixth grade, I had made one of the best soccer teams in the state of Oregon. I always had the potential to be the star player on the soccer teams I joined, although, because of the confidence issue, I eventually quit soccer in 7th grade. I am honestly not 100% sure why I had such a lack of belief in myself growing up. All I know is that my dad had expectations for me that I could not meet. My dad was a stoic. I was too and because my dad and I were both stoics, I felt comfortable hanging out with him. My mom’s personality was the opposite of mine, so I never really hung out with her. Towards the end of middle school, I was also struggling with suicidal ideation because I had no identity as far as I could see.

Story section 3

By high school, I had begun to seek my identity through strength training and Muay Thai. I began to excel in both because of my intense training load fueled by anger. I had a deep sadness that surfaced as anger. I didn't know where the sadness came from at the time, but those physical disciplines were a great outlet at the time. By my junior year, I needed more outlets, so I eventually took up smoking and drinking.

I had embraced violence, strength training and substance abuse as my new identity. I had also developed a not so great group of friends. It was perfectly horrible.

Story section 4

I had begun dating a girl I met on a dating app. We dated for a while. I was a very toxic person during this relationship in a very dark place. I committed four acts of domestic violence, including strangulation. I put another person's life in danger. Why? I acted on my pride. My pride was supported only by my fighting abilities, my appearance, and strength. I was pretty pathetic.

Later a turning point came on Christmas Eve. I went out that night. With friends at home, I got blackout drunk and woke up to two police officers arresting me for a DUI. This was when I realized for sure I needed God. sometime after this, I broke up with her.

Story section 5

My shift from reliance on myself to reliance on God became especially clear when I met a girl in the summer of 2025. She was the most incredible girl I had ever met, and our relationship gave me a glimpse of what healthier love could look like. God used her for great good. I was led me to cut ties with old harmful friends and motivated me to really work on my personal growth, quit drinking for good. Our relationship was part of a season filled with defining moments. 

At the same time, the consequences of my past choices caught up with me. In January 2026, I was arrested on three misdemeanor domestic violence charges and one felony domestic violence charge involving strangulation.

Story section 6

I was called by the police and told to come back home, so I drove back home, and they arrested me in the driveway. During the drive the fear began to set in. Although what was happening didn't really hit me until I got to jail. When I arrived at jail, I was hopeful that I would get out that day. But deep down, I knew that wasn't happening. By day two, I got transported from Washington County Jail to Marion County Jail. And, that’s when it all hit. On the first day, I was so scared. I was worried about my girlfriend at the time. I was worried about my family and worried about what would happen to me. While in jail, I just prayed about the worries I had. I was a big ball of stress and anxiety after getting out of jail and eventually broke up with my girlfriend at the time

Story section 7

The breakup was very painful and led me down another difficult path. It was only painful because I hadn't fully found my identity in God. While I was dating her, I found my identity in the relationsip. I had other issues too. I had a felony on my record. I could not drive because I was unable to get a job due to the felony on top of a car accident that kicked me off insurance. Eventually, I needed a way out. So, I succumbed to a porn addiction. I wasn't able to quit that until I figured out what actually solved the problem.

My issue was simple but complicated. I didn't know my purpose, and I was trying to find it on my own. But, I guess God used all that to help me find my purpose. I had another problem after I found my purpose: I was not acting on my purpose because I was thinking, "What if it doesn't work?" and then quickly going to, "There's no way this is gonna work." I hadn't even thought of the concept of "What if I do it and it works?" Anyway, now I am at the "What if I do it and it works?" stage.

Closing

I came to God after the DUI, sure, but I still wasn't all in. It took a lot to get me to the point of being all in. It wasn't until I began to kinda lose my mind being trapped at home 
The truth is that I am made new through Jesus Christ. The second you surrender to Jesus, all your sins—past, present and future—are washed away.

“Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.” Romans 7:20 NIV

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:30 NIV

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’” Romans 10:11 NIV

It is just cool
sick sunset photo

The story continues

God transformed my life, but He is not finished with my story.

What God Is Doing