Being a Young Leader

Recently I've been struggling in how I want to present myself. I’ve always wanted to be a leader within my generation. And when I say leader, I mean a role model, someone who is living life differently to everyone else. This stemmed from a desire to be more Christ like from a young age and has stuck since. However, I’ve always struggled with how I was supposed to do this. I wanted to be relatable and Christ like all at the same time, which seems impossible as in today’s society, religion is often alien to anyone who doesn’t believe. And because of this, I’ve been on a journey - it sounds as if I’ve ended the journey but the truth is that I haven’t, really my journey is just beginning.

When I started high school, I wanted to fit in yet at the same time uphold my Christian values. To tell you the truth, that is a hard job to do in a very much secular school where there is near to none other religious people willing to talk about their faith. So I first tried in my own strength to be Christ like in that environment, and it just didn’t work out. It resulted in me coming across quite big headed, aggressive (because I believed I was being an "open book"), and just generally mixing up what I’d learnt at church and what my friends and the rest of the world was telling me. It wasn’t that I didn’t rely on God, I did, especially when it came to my studies and even got people to pray with me before my GCSE exams.

It was only when I moved school that I truly realised the errors of my ways. I had so heavily relied on my own strength in trying to be Christ like that it most definitely did not come across that way. It just so happened that the school I moved to was a church school, where there were people who were open to discussing faith, rather than pushing it aside and treating it as a taboo topic. It was through hearing different views which were very much academic that I realised that the only way in which a young person can make an impact is to be practical in their faith. To acknowledge their weaknesses, be honest about them, yet strive to become closer to God all the same.

It was on an article on RELEVANT Magazines website that really got me thinking on how to further my active faith and be a leader within my generation.

It is through how we speak that people notice a difference. If we are constantly slandering others, people won’t take us seriously. But if we speak lovingly they will notice. If we are positive in the light of negative situations, people notice. I’m not saying that I’m good at doing these things, but I can tell that I have been working on it and have improved from how I was at my old school.

The article then goes to say that it’s in what we do, how we act that we influence others. If we behave in such a way that is humble, people notice. Not the false humility that society shows us to be, but true humility where we no longer focus on ourselves, but others. When we seek to help and serve others because we love them that much, because Christ’s love is what drives us. this could be simply helping out when it inconveniences you, always checking up on your friends, stepping out in helping someone you don’t know because there in need, standing up to that bully for someone who isn’t your friend, or encouraging someone when they no longer believe in themselves. In all these actions, the aim isn’t to do it for brownie points, but because you love the world so much. It’s a declaration of your faith. Our faiths aren’t meant to just be what we believe, but shape our lives. Faith is an active thing.

The last thing the article notes on is purity. Purity is very much key in being someone who people respect. Purity is being able to restrain yourself even when you want to do something because you know that it isn’t good for your heart. As a teen, this is very hard, but not impossible. I don’t drink alcohol. My friends all think I’m crazy because of it, but I won’t because I’ve seen what it can do to others and I honestly don’t want that to happen to me. It is only recently that I realised that I don’t want that because it will ultimately affect how others view me. They may no longer respect me as they do as I will be seen to be one of them, I won’t stand out and show that I have different values to them. I don’t think drinking is bad, but I believe the misuse of it is. I also don’t drink simply because you’re more likely to live a longer life if you don’t drink or spoke. With this being said, my friends still want to hang out with me because they know that we can still have a good time together without me drinking.

The key factor in all of this is that you choose to allow God to direct your path rather than yourself. And boy does it make a difference.

In writing this I hope that you can see that it’s not strange to want to be different yet the same at the same time. I still am working on shifting my focus onto the right things, but it takes time. The key through it all is to keep pushing on no matter how hard it feels because at the end of it you’ll be a better person and feel happier for it (if you don’t maybe you’ve approached it wrong, just re-evaluate and start again). I shall link the original article here, and hope that you are all having a good week.

Ellah xx