I have always been pretty sure about what I believed, even if those things were misguided. There were times when I very clearly and loudly expressed outrageous opinions--outrageous mostly because I was naive and did not understand the way the world worked. I could articulate my thoughts and convictions, but I was sorely lacking in experience.

Now, I still enjoy a good discussion about beliefs, but I no longer get excited and insist that I am correct. Each of my opinions are formed from what I know of the world, and I try to remember that what I know of the world could change in a heartbeat. When other people try to attack my beliefs, I no longer get defensive. I try to understand why they are so hostile, and I know there are people who share my faith that were hostile to them first.

This has always been a sore point of confusion for me--the main tenant of my faith is love, yet so often in the past I have lost sight of it, and clearly I am not alone in this regard. There is nothing wrong with having convictions, but there really is no point of they are not acted on. I believe that Christ loved the world enough to give up heaven, serve the people, and die for them, but there really is no point to believe that unless I am willing to love the people like Christ did. In many ways it is worse to say I believe in God but behave with hostility to others than to stay silent about my beliefs.

I have always known what I believe, but it is time for me to act on it. In a few months I will be leaving everything I have known and spending a year helping people who want me to help them. People wonder why I would give up an entire year serving others--why I would raise money so I can work to somebody else's benefit.

I hope I will benefit by growing from the experience, but mostly I want to prove to myself that what I believe in is worth believing.