Recently I was invited to speak to St. Bernard's youth group about my faith. I thought I'd share some of my thoughts with you.
The core of my faith is that I believe God loves me, and so I trust in Him. No matter what happens, good or bad, I trust in God's love for me and that He is with me through everything. This type of relationship with God leads me to give Him everything. I let Him in to every part of my life, every thought, every experience. He knows it all already, but I share it with Him. Make Jesus your best friend. Tell Him everything first. Before you share it with anyone else, share it with Him.
Psalm 139: 1-5
Lord, you know me:
you know when I sit and stand;
you understand my thoughts from afar.
You sift through my travels and my rest;
with all my ways you are familiar.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
Lord, you know it all.
Behind and before you encircle me
and rest your hand upon me.
Along with trusting in God's love and sharing everything with Him, I desire His will for my life. What gets tricky is that I'm actually the person living my life, making decisions of what to do, and I don't know the answers or what direction to go. Therefore, I pray that His will be done, and I pray for openness to any way He is working in my life and in my heart. I pray that the Holy Spirit guides my responses, so that God's love spreads and He is glorified.
Figuring out who we are made to be is a lot to wrestle with, but the most important things are a lot simpler that we might expect. So, let's consider some important questions.
Why did God make you and me... and everyone?
- He created us out of an abundance of His love.
- He wants to have a loving relationship with us.
- He wants us to be with Him forever.
What is our purpose?
- Our purpose is to love God.
- Our purpose is to glorify God.
How do we glorify God?
- We glorify God through prayer, the things we do and say, and love for Him and love for others.
- We glorify God when we use the gifts and talents He gave us.
He makes you unique for Himself, and the things you offer through your gifts is the special way you are called to build His kingdom. God does amazing work by putting things on your heart. He speaks to us through our gifts, talents, interests, and feelings. When we respond to Him, we follow where He’s leading, we glorify Him, and we become more like the person He made us to be.
Don't worry about all the "doing" and your life's big picture. You can glorify God right now simply through prayer. Talk with Him about everything that's on your mind. Thank Him. Ask Him to lead you. Jesus tells us to ask Him for anything. He will respond to you.
You’re just called to be the best you. That’s all God wants you to be, and He wants to take the journey with you. But it takes an effort: prayer, openness, response, and action. God has no expectations of us except that we be ourselves, and the invitation to be ourselves is a call to holiness (James Martin, SJ).
