Realigning My Priorities
Throughout high school I have tried to push my faith under everything, only to use it as a last resort, if needed. It wasn´t that I was embarrassed by my Christian identity, I just had a hard time trying to find ways to incorporate my faith daily. Towards the end of January of 2018, I came to the realization that my priorities were not matching what I desired.
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At the end of January, I left for my church´s annual retreat called Stronghold. It was during that weekend, surrounded by my youth group, that I finally understood that I was not living a life, glorifying to Him. The theme for the weekend was that God was our eternal Stronghold and that through that, He would never let us down. I had been putting my trust and faith into people in this world. Not ever fully understanding why the people that I call my friends would continually let me down and my parents would unload unneeded stress on me through school. Both of these examples and many more led me to questioning myself and doubting my worth.
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On the retreat, as the seniors gave their testimonies, I realized that God was so evident in their lives and mine. He was showing me all of the resources to reach out for help. The weekend drew to a close and I made it my mission to not stop exploring the deepening of my faith after that weekend. So often I feel depressed after such an uplifting weekend that I unknowingly resume my separate high-school life. That mindset is so wrong and unhealthy. My faith did not deserve to be hidden within me, without any contact with the outside world. Honestly, I never intended to segregate my faith from my ¨normal life¨ as much as I did, but the fact is that I did, I learned from that, and I changed my perspective. The way I live life at youth, for example, compared to how I live life at school and in my studies should resemble each other, even if the situations are clearly different.
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Now I realize that God provides things like family and friends and activities, not for us to rely on them, but for us to enjoy those blessings without feeling the desperation to depend on them for my happiness. Many people rely on other people, sports, music, or fleeting things to give them strength, but those things are just that- temporary.
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Maybe realigning your priorities means that you show a different attitude on the court than only desiring to win the game to impress the girl. Maybe it means an overall attitude change, one that leaves people thinking, where does that girl´s motivation come from.
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Things like your religion should never just be a small section of your life that will only be seen when asked about. It shouldn't be something that you choose to make come and go, through good times and bad. It should be evident in your daily life, ready at all times to defend itself and point all of the glory back to the one who gives us all of our blessings.
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