14 yr old Faith Statement

[descovy]

Okay, I am coming out of a year old lurkdom. Duggar Gossip lured me in, and now I check in daily.

First post, but No, you are not all going to hell :lol:

I just really wanted to share here, because my 14 yr old daughter was Confirmed in our ELCA church today. After 3 years of Sunday night classes, the confirmands have to write a 4 page paper. I'll spare you all the parts, but I really wanted to share a couple of paragraphs, because it really moved me.

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Faith Statement: How I Share God

By: Kellie XXXXX

Every one of us, myself included, has passed up the opportunity to show integrity. But if everybody shows love, and everybody receives it and passes it on, just imagine the kind of world we would live in. For all we know, Adolf Hitler could have become someone we admire most today; someone like Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther. Wouldn’t you love to be the reason this world is a better place? You have to show people that everybody deserves to be loved and accepted for who they are. No one person should be better or have more rights than another.

We all share God in different ways, according to who we are and what we believe in. And since this is a faith statement, I should tell you what I believe in: I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe that Jesus Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. I believe Jesus is the Son of God, and suffered and died on the cross to save us from our own sins and have them forgiven. I believe we are all accepted into heaven, regardless of whether you are a mass murderer, a non-believer, or a perfect saint (though none of us are). I believe we are all loved, accepted, and forgiven by God regardless of skin color, sexuality, where you are from or what you have done. I believe God wants us to try to love, accept, and forgive everybody as He does. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for all of us, and that we don’t have the right to judge each other. God is the only one who can judge us, and I believe he chooses not to. I believe we have all had our wrongs, and that we can’t work hard enough or be good enough to earn our way into heaven, because Jesus sacrificed himself to save us from ourselves, and that is a debt we could never ever repay him. All we can do is love Him and love each other, and put our spiritual gifts to good use.

But all in all, what do I really believe in? Love. I believe in love, because LOVE WINS.

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A little background about me. People around me growing up who were "churchy" were the most judgmental. My family was a little trashy and it was a small town with quite the gossip mill. I think I have always believed in God, but I did not believe in "church. Any experience in church I felt like a Monday Morning hypocrite... profess to be something on Sunday, but live a heathen life the rest of the week.

Anyway, 14 years ago when I had my 1st child, I was living 2000 miles from home, but for an aunt/uncle an hour away. I started going to an ELCA church with them, thinking it was like any other Baptist, Nazarene, Assembly of God church I'd been to back home. It was not, and I agreed to get her (and myself) baptized.

Through the past 3 years, I committed to being a Confirmation guide to Jr Hi students all being raised by nice suburban families in a nice suburban church. In our small group time, I often shared how I felt judged by "Christian kids" as I grew up, and how I felt loved and accepted in our ELCA church. It seemed to resonate with several of our students. Here we are in a southern, suburban (conservative) area and it was okay to be Christian and non judgmental. Several of the faith statements from "my students" alluded to this, and it made me quite proud. My own daughter's gave me chills. I wish I could have known her when I was a teen ;)

Hope you don't mind me sharing here. Along the way, I have enjoyed the point of view of many here. I'll get my snark on soon! :disgust:

[gustava]

So different from 10 year old's answering an altar call.

[ladyamylynn]

She sounds like a great young lady. (coming from a very non-religious person.)

[Tangy Bee]

:clap: Thanks for coming out of lurkdom to share this! Some adults don't believe that kids actually have something meaningful to say and that they really care.

[itsnikki05]

Thank you for sharing! That was beautiful, absolutely beautiful and shows more maturity than most adults I know.

[Geechee Girl]

Your daughter's statement is very lovely. She's a good egg. Thank you for sharing. Your early church experience sounds similar to my own. I'm glad you overcame it, and found a new church family.

[carebear]

Thanks for sharing, it was very thought out and encouraging. Although, the snarky part of me would love to see one of the Duggar teens write a statement of faith.. i'm certain it would fail in comparison.

[Luvmyskinnyjeanz]

Wow so much wisdom, understanding and tolerance at such a young age, if only more people could be like her. :clap: