Nate Tiller – From Lost Identity to Lasting Purpose

Sometimes the biggest battles aren’t visible on the outside.

You can come from a good family, grow up in church, have great opportunities, and still find yourself struggling with identity, pressure, addiction, and the desire to fit in.

In this honest and encouraging conversation, John Martin sits down with Nate Tiller to share a story that will resonate with many young adults navigating the challenges of today's world.

Nate grew up in a loving Christian home along Florida’s Emerald Coast. Surrounded by faith, family, sports, and strong values, life seemed steady and secure. But when he left home for college, everything changed.

Like many young people, Nate found himself searching for acceptance and identity in a completely new environment. Early in his college experience, he faced a devastating false accusation that left him feeling isolated, discouraged, and unsure of who he was.

The emotional weight of that season pushed him into a lifestyle of partying, alcohol, and drug use. What began as a way to numb the pain quickly became a cycle he couldn't escape.

For a while, Nate lived a double life.

One version of himself appeared fine on the outside.
The other struggled privately with addiction, confusion, and a growing distance from God.

But God wasn’t finished with his story.

Nate shares how a loving conversation with his father became one of the turning points in his journey. Instead of condemnation, he encountered grace, accountability, and a reminder that he was deeply loved.

Soon after, God began placing the right people in his life.

Through a small group and the mentorship of Travis Wilburn, Nate found something he had been missing all along—authentic Christian community.

For the first time, he had people who would walk alongside him, challenge him, pray for him, and help him build a life centered on Christ.

The road wasn't easy.

Breaking away from old friendships, old habits, and destructive patterns required sacrifice and surrender. There were lonely seasons and difficult decisions.

But through consistent time with God, accountability, and a willingness to trust the Lord, Nate began experiencing real freedom.

Today, Nate's life looks dramatically different.

He has discovered purpose beyond partying.
He has found identity in Christ rather than public opinion.
And through God's faithfulness, he met and married the love of his life, beginning a brand-new chapter built on faith and commitment.

One of Nate’s most powerful messages is simple:

"Choose your hard."

Every season of life has challenges. The question is whether we face the temporary difficulty of surrender and growth now—or the deeper consequences of refusing to change later.

Nate encourages young adults to:
Spend daily time in God's Word.
Develop a consistent prayer life.
Get involved in a Bible-believing church.
Join a small group where accountability and vulnerability are possible.
And most importantly, fully surrender every area of life to Jesus.

You don't have to stay trapped in the same cycle.
You don't have to keep living a double life.
And you don't have to figure it out alone.

God has a purpose for your life that is bigger than your mistakes, bigger than your past, and bigger than your fears.

What is one thing you need to fully surrender to God so you can step into the life He has planned for you?

Contact Nate Tiller:
📧 nathan@borgesbrooksbuilders.com

For more information contact us at
rtrdestiny@gmail.com

Transcript

Welcome And The Road Back

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well hello friends. I'm John Martin. Excited to be back on Road to Redemption today. Got my friend Nate Tiller. Nate, how are you, man? Great. Good to see you. Good to see you. It's good to have a young man like you here. Absolutely. I I I love to get some younger folks on the show because I remember when I was your age and had you know a lot of energy for the world and excitement. And um, you know, grew up in a Christian home, but it's it's it's not easy being being younger. A lot of things going on, and um, but I know you've you've got a great story.

Growing Up Sheltered Then Waking Up

SPEAKER_01 0:44

So just would you mind giving us a little background on you? And yeah. Uh you just want to pull testimony real quick or sure what?

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yeah. Um yeah, so I grew up here in the area. Um, had a great family growing up. Um I'm 23 now. Name's Nathan Tiller. Um yeah, I guess started so uh I was born in 2002 and grew up in a private school. And like I said, great family, great Christian family, always surrounded by church, good people. Um, kind of just felt this like sheltered life all the way up through eighth grade. Um that's when I transferred over to public school, uh, my freshman year, and kind of got a touch of reality of what the real world looks like. And um, but even through high school, I kind of maintained a steady foundation with the Lord, always grew up doing mission stuff, had a great group of friends, sports, um, kind of had my head on my shoulder as well through high school. Um, so yeah, that was great.

Auburn Identity Crash And Accusation

SPEAKER_00 1:45

And then um, yeah, went to college, went to Auburn University, and there's where I felt like I lost my identity. I I just completely lost myself. About four weeks into college, I joined this fraternity. And first four weeks there, I got accused of drugging a girl in the first four weeks, and that completely changed who I thought I was. And it was something that I really struggled to walk through for the longest time, freshman, sophomore year. Um, just because I felt like I didn't have a voice to share, it's just all this negativity. I felt like I couldn't even leave the dorm room. It was just it was awful. It was a terrible experience. Um, something I wish no one would ever have to walk through. Um, being accused of something you didn't do is not not easy to walk through. Um, so yeah, kind of freshman year was was tough. I was trying to figure it out. I was like, all right, this party scene isn't for me. Let's let's get into the church. Let's let's that's where I know best. Let's get into there. And it just felt like it wasn't working, just wasn't something wasn't sticking. And I just kept struggling freshman year, and then I had some buddies from back home, and I felt accepted to them.

Numbing Out With Parties And Drugs

SPEAKER_00 2:59

I kind of and they were kind of living a party style life. Um, and that's kind of where I started to get into partying and drugs, and that was second semester of freshman year. And through that through that season, it just felt like everything was numb. I wasn't thinking about anything, it was fine, it was fun, and that was my season that I lived from freshman year to a little bit into sophomore year, um, first semester. And

Family Intervention And Coming Clean

SPEAKER_00 3:27

I had my family come up one weekend. Uh my sister was up there, and I ended up, you know, just talking a little too much and sharing a little bit too much that what was going on. And but it was amazing. That was, I think, God working through me through that. And um, so yeah, I ended up admitting to some stuff to my sister. She was worried, she's praying for me. And uh, anyways, fast forward probably two or three weeks later, my dad comes up to Auburn, middle of the night, and he's like, Man, we need to talk. We need to, I need you to just share, share with me what's on your heart, and um yeah, and what what what all has been going on. So I just kind of left the left everything open and just told him everything I'd been doing, everything that was going on. And that fatherly love that I had received was something that just meant the world to me to have a father that I mean showed his disappointment, but at the same time showed how much he loved me. And that was something that just really stuck with me. Um, so I got out of Auburn about I don't know, two months in the first semester, and and this was around 2022, so not too long ago. And um, so yeah, did that, and then so, anyways, came back from Auburn, started working for my dad, but still just wasn't fully putting everything into the Lord. I wasn't surrendering still. I was still trying to, you know, please my parents, but also live the selfish life that I had. And um, so anyways, that kind of lasted for another year, I would say. And, you know, Monday through Friday, I'm acting good, and then on the weekends I just go absolutely crazy back into the drugs, and just kind of lived this endless cycle, just like just wanted to have a two-faced life of you know looking good for my parents, and but still wanted to keep all the same friends I had and all that. And

Small Group Mentorship Sparks Change

SPEAKER_00 5:27

it wasn't until I mean probably about three, two, three years ago, and my dad was like, Man, you need to you need to get involved with a small group. Like, I've been going, it's been it's been really good, it's been powerful. And so I got plugged in with a small group and I met Travis Wilburn, and that's kind of where things started to shift around. I started me and Travis started meeting weekly, once a week. He kind of had a similar story to me, not the exact same, but um, and man, it was it was awesome just meeting with him. It it felt like Christianity was fun, and that was it made it fun. He had some very practical ways of just like, let's figure this out together. Let's I want to walk you through this season of your life. And man, that was awesome. And yeah, so I continued to meet with him weekly, got plugged into small group, and and I started changing my friend groups, and it wasn't easy at first, like those those weekends sitting there alone, not going out to the bars, not doing stuff. Hey, I'm not gonna lie, they sucked. Like it was awful, it was terrible. I hated it, but I knew there was something bigger waiting for me, and just kind of pushed through that season, and then you know, all of a sudden work starts to become more fun. You start getting driven in the gym. I start finding sober hobbies, fishing, and doing other stuff, and you know, we live in such a cool area, and there's so much to do out here, and that was my excuse for such a long time. Like, there's nothing else to go do, and this is the only thing that you gotta do, and it's not true at all. So, um, yeah, I kind of found my passions elsewhere and really got involved with a small group and just started surrendering everything that I had been doing, and just surrendered everything over. Um and that, I mean, that was drugs, partying, all of that, friends, just let it all go, and that was not easy. Um, so yeah, and then shortly after meeting with Travis, he introduced me to this girl that started working for Live30A, which is where Travis uh that's his business. And um so yeah, we and he was like, hey, this girl just moved in from Kentucky. Um love for you guys to meet, and so we did and hung out, and it was awesome. And about two months later, we started dating, and now it's been we got married on March 19th, so that was uh kind of just a full circle moment. Travis actually officiated our wedding. Um, and man, that has been such a blessing in my life having her in my life. It is she pushes me every day, and learning how to do life together is something that is so fun, and I'm just loving the season I'm in right now. And wow, I feel like I'm actually growing up finding myself. It's it's fun, and it's uh it's been a fun testimony.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

What a what a redemption story you have at you know, a young age, and that's why I was excited to have you on because you know it took me a while as I was telling you phone. Um, I always believed in Jesus, but you know, continued to kind of live the party lifestyle and you know, not fully surrender, like you're saying, for for some time. Um but it's it's it's it's a challenge for everybody, you know, but but I think it's particularly challenging for younger people, you know, college years and you know, 20s and even high school, with just the crowd and everybody's drinking and partying, and you know, it's um it's it's it's it's hard to break

Advice On Surrender And New Community

SPEAKER_01 9:04

out of that.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

So it's an adulting lifestyle, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

So so what um Nate advice do you have for you know maybe younger folks that are listening that um you know maybe they you know they consider themselves a Christian, but they're they're still you know in that in that world.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

I think the biggest thing for me was the community I was surrounding myself with. And, you know, breaking ties with people that you don't want to break with is sometimes the hardest but most rewarding thing you could do. And I think fully surrendering, which looks like giving everything that you're struggling with to the Lord and and stopping those addictions, and that's it takes time, it takes months, not years, like it's just something that you have to walk through with the Lord. You know, I tried walking through it on my own and it it doesn't work out, you burn out quick. And when you finally can give that to the Lord, and I mean seriously in prayer about those things, getting up in the word, just just doing it, even when you don't wake up feeling like doing it, you just gotta get in the word and start praying all the time and just giving everything to the Lord, and there will be changes. I promise there will be.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yeah. Wow, that's so good. Uh uh I love hearing this story because I I I know the younger generation is is is is really crying out. They they want a rel they want authenticity, they want you know, a relationship with something other than social media and things that they're doing of the world. Um is there anything uh you know that the Lord's put on your heart to share, you know, with maybe it's just even one person listening out there right now that maybe they don't even know about, you know. Yeah by God. They're like, you know, I'm not so sure about this.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Um I think one thing the Lord's putting putting on my heart for a couple years now, my sister always told me this is you know, pick your heart, whatever that heart is. If your heart is to go through this season right now, and you know, maybe that looks like stopping drugs, stopping alcohol, whatever that is, pick your heart. Because if you do your heart now, it's way better way better than to do your heart later in life when you're married, you have kids, and you're still struggling with this. And you know, you're gonna have to have something hard in your life. And I think the best thing you can do right now is to choose your hard right now and to work through it. Yeah.

Three Pillars For Lasting Freedom

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Well, Nate, on Road to Redemption, we have three key pillars we like to leave people with on the show. Is is first is to get into the Word of God, get into the Bible and read your Bible preferably every morning before you get started. To get up and just read the scriptures. If you don't have a Bible, just get the Bible out. And if you start spending time with the Lord in the morning, uh through the scriptures, he'll speak to you. You'll start hearing from him. Um and then to get second, to get into a Christ-centered, Bible-believing church and just go, go to the church, get involved, give it some time, give it at least one year. Uh, we promise it'll change your life. And the last is to get into a small group and a group that you know, like you found that of men or women that you can do life with, that you can make yourself vulnerable, make yourself accountable. Um, that will change your life. Nate, is is there anything more you might say about some younger folks that might be out there that, you know, are like, eh, I don't really need a small group.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

That's yeah, I think I think that's something that's so tough for us guys as well, is to be vulnerable in groups. And, you know, we're all going through the same stuff. You know, it might look a little bit different, but at the end of the day, we're all the same creatures. And we've either walked through something that you know you're going through, or there's something that we will walk through that you've walked through. Um, and I think just being open and getting that stuff out, and that's where really where change starts to happen. Um, because if not, if you just keep it quiet, keep it yourself. There's not gonna be any accountability, you're always gonna struggle with it. And so yeah, I think absolutely getting in small group is probably the most important thing to do.

Prayer And Invitation To Christ

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Cornate, let's just close in prayer before we go. Um, Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for Nate coming on the show and just being vulnerable and sharing his his testimony. Lord, we just lift up um any of those listening, especially here, maybe either any young men or women that uh are struggling with this world, with the things of this world, maybe it's addictions or just anxiety or depression. Um, Lord, we lift him up to you and we pray you just lift off these strongholds and you provide them a future hope. Lord, um provide open doors, open doors for them, Lord, to a church or small group or a friend, you know, to start entering a personal relationship with you and uh anyone listening right now, you can give your life to Christ. If you just come and say, Father, I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness. Um and if you cry out to the Lord and and repent of your sins and say, I give you my life, Jesus, you're saved right now. So we just pray many of you will do that now and make this prayer and take this step today towards freedom through Jesus. Amen. Amen. Wow, it's been great. Thank you for coming on. Thank you. Hope to have your dad on. Absolutely. Bye bye.