When others ask you about yourself, you probably think of the sports and activities you are involved in, unique facts about yourself, and your ambitions. When people ask me, one of the first things that comes to my mind is my faith. Raised Christian, my heart has always led me to follow God and believe in the scripture of The Bible. When I’m asked to share about myself, my heart wants to share my faith, but my mind censors me from doing so in fear of rejection from my peers, teachers, and even employers. 

After years in youth groups, church services, and personal development of faith, I have challenged myself to share my faith. I started by allowing my actions to boldly reflect my faith. I did this in simple ways. I rooted my action in integrity. For instance, choosing to motion apologetically instead shooting irritated looks when someone cuts me off on the road. I had to allow my actions to reflect my beliefs before I could start to feel comfortable verbally sharing my thoughts.

It wasn’t until last year when I really became comfortable speaking out about my faith. I recall an instance in the beginning of the year on the bus on our way to cheer camp. An upperclassman invited a freshman to come to a party with them. With context, I concluded that this party was going to involve stereotypical underage drinking and other destructive decisions. Instead of combating the upperclassman for their invitation, I invited the underclassman to my youth group. They did not take me up on the offer, but I knew I was doing the right thing and hoped that I made it clear that they could confide in me if they did become interested. This was the first instance where I felt like I publicly established myself as a Christian. 

That small experience helped break down a mental block that was keeping me from talking about my faith. Soon I started making connections with my peers who had similar beliefs because I was able to talk about my faith and beliefs. Without being able to display that part of myself it’s hard to make connections. Now not only do I have supportive friends, but also accountability partners. When I catch myself falling to bad habits and sin, I point it out and they support me and relate with me. This has encouraged so much of my journey with faith.

Creating a lifestyle where these decisions became normal for me gave me hope for myself, but also fosters hope for my peers. I felt alone in my beliefs and in my faith, but now I know I wasn’t alone, I was just unable to make connections because I was holding myself back. Sometimes all it takes is the knowledge that someone else is going through similar situations or believes in the same things to grow and move forward in personal development and faith.  

I strongly believe that identifying with  or separating yourself from a religion or faith, or separating from is a large step to understanding yourself as a person and letting others in your life understand you. If we all understand that our beliefs may lead us to different values and choices, then we should respect each other more. It is important that students feel as though they understand how to be respectful of other faiths and religions. Throughout the year I will be continuing to write content about this topic to achieve that goal.