Teen Essay Winner: Seeing teens' concern

Modern society makes it difficult for a teenager like myself to go against peer pressure and follow Christ's example. God wanted all of us to be convincing examples of His love in everyday life. But to do this, sometimes we must make difficult choices. Do we follow the popular group, or do the right thing and follow God? This is one of the most difficult problems that I think my peers face today in trying to set an example and be a witness of God's love.

One incident where I witnessed teenagers being a convincing symbol of the love of God is right down in the city of Albany. My father owns a used furniture store on Central Avenue. I see many people and children there each day who are sick or homeless. Some are very malnourished. I feel sorry for them because they don't seem to have anyone who actually cares about them, or they just simply don't have enough money to buy food for themselves. I especially have sympathy for those children.

There is a place called the Salvation Army there that tries to help. You can bring in clothes or donate things for little children. What makes me most happy to see, though, is when kids my age help out. Every Friday, they have a soup car that they bring around to one of the major parking lots. They hand out hot soup, sandwiches and coffee to everyone. I always see kids my age spending their time helping the volunteers hand out the food. Even when it is bitter cold, they still help.

I think that is a very clear sign of God's love being shown through my peers. They do not care what others may think of them or tease them about. They know they are doing the right thing. It must feel good helping people get a good meal and see them smile. That's why they take their time to do this.

To act so courageously, I believe, takes empathy; to have the compassion for those people and understand how they must be feeling. Second, you need courage to stand up for what you think is right and do it even if you get teased or called names. Maturity is another important quality. Some young adults only think about themselves. I think you have to have the maturity to recognize everyone else's problems, not just yours, and then want to help and to something about them.

All in all, you have to have an unquestioning love of others. If we all stopped and thought about what we could do to be a sign of God's love, we would find treating others as we want to be treated might be the key to being a sign of God's love.

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