I hereby, this day, lay out what I believe:
I believe…That this world isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. It, at some point, breaks everyone, as Ernest Hemingway says. And when it does, we all struggle with how we cope with the newfound knowledge that we’re not perfect; the fact that we’re really not even close. We want to feel worthy, loved and accepted. We want to be known, not only by others but also by ourselves. We want to understand the whys of this world…beginning with, ‘Why can’t I understand myself?’
“I realize I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.”
-~Romans 7:15-19~
“The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.”
~Romans 12:3~
I believe…That the only way to truly, fully ever feel worthy, loved and accepted; the only way we’ll ever really be known and the only way we’ll ever figure out ourselves is through Jesus Christ, the Son of God and our Savior. Jesus overcame this world that breaks us repeatedly and so mercilessly. In that truth, in knowing that Jesus was here on Earth—here where we feel our pain and are at times overcome by our loneliness—we are invited to rest and find comfort.
“Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners…and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself…He got us out of the mess we’re in and restores us to where he always wanted us to be.”
~Romans 4:23-25~
“By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”
~Philippians 3:13-14~
I believe…That anything short of God’s plan for our life—our career, our spouse and our hobbies—will never satisfy. Without following God’s path, all the positives that may stack up will feel as if the bottom holding them up will soon drop out.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock.”
~Matthew 7:24-25~
I believe…That adolescents feel alone in this world—alone to fight battles they were never meant to fight. I believe that with every generation children start fighting these battles at a younger and younger age. I believe the choices of our fathers (more money, less time, new job, new spouse) are wrecking havoc on their children.
“When He (Jesus) looked out over the crowds, His heart broke.
So confused and aimless they were, like sheep without a shepherd…”
~Matthew 9:36~
“Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side,
with them and not against them.”
~Philippians 4:5~
I believe…That God has placed a call on the organization of Young Life and all those involved to go to students and love them with an unconditional love. I believe God has called me to be a part of this ministry, to go to students at Kelso High School and to love them with all the love Jesus has poured into me. I (and we) must not wait for students to come to me (us). I (and we) must go to them, in all ways I (we) know how.
“But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them unless someone is sent to do it?”
~Romans 10:14-17~
I believe…That this ministry, that our very lives, will never work without our daily, hourly surrender to God’s plan and God’s will. I (and we) will never make it without deliberate, unceasing prayer. My (and our) efforts will fail without time spent alone with Jesus.
“When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.”
~Romans 4:21~
“The real believers are the ones the Spirit of God leads to work away at this ministry, filling the air with Christ’s praise as we do it. We couldn’t carry this off by our own efforts, and we know it—even though we can list what many might think are impressive credentials.”
~Philippians 3:3~
I believe…That we must never lose the basic Scriptural theology to why we do what we do. The how should never be as important as the why. We must never get so involved in the doing that we lose
“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
~Mark 4:26-29~
