I thought I should let you know something. I am not perfect. You probably already know this but I think it might be important for you to understand. Because I know that all of the people that I look up to, are not perfect as well. Your inspirations do not have to be Christian or sinless for you to look up to them. Your role models do not have to be Christian or sinless for you to look up to them. Your friends do not have to be Christian or sinless for you to love them. I've really learned that this year but it is so true. There is so much we have to learn from the people in our lives. I have learned a lot from my friends that sometimes cheat. I have learned a lot from the people I look up to that have different religious beliefs than I do. It is not my responsibility to convert them or try to change them into better people, I can make a few suggestions here and there but I don't want to lose them, it is God's responsibility. I don't want to be one of those crazy Christians that no one can hang out with without arguing or trying to convert everyone. That is not the reason we are on this earth. We are here to love people. We are here to make disciples. We have to learn how to approach different people. The first thing we must always do is love them as human, regardless of mistakes or beliefs. We can also be open about our beliefs but threatening or scaring or being rude is no way to do that. That's what shows people Christianity is a hypocritical and false religion. We aren't here to show people our faith is wrong and terrible. We are here to show them we are different. We are loving, world-changers. We can't be who we are made to be if everyone doesn't trust us or even enjoy our company. I want to be able to proudly call myself a Christian and not immediately scare people. I want people to have higher expectations of me and see them fulfilled. It would be a lot easier if I could be perfect all the time but I'm not. That's just how life is. I want to be a perfect representation of Christianity but I'm not. I always try to love people as human not by their labels. I hope people can do the same for me. If not, that's okay but everyone has a friend in me no matter where they are coming from. As a Christian, I want to say this: If you believe in a different religion than me, I love you as human. If you are African or Asian or European or Hispanic, I love you as human. If you are in a different political party, I love you as human. If you are part of the LGBT+ community, I love you as human. If you struggle with mental illness, I love you as human. If you've made stupid decisions, I love you as human. I think I pretty much covered everyone in that list. But seriously, our lives (whether we realize it or not) have so much value and worth. Nothing can take that away from us. Nothing can take our humanity away. And no one has that right. Take some time today to accept yourself and love yourself for who you are and do the right thing. Tell someone else how important they are. Don't be afraid to encourage someone. You've got this. There is nothing to be afraid of with the strongest warrior protecting every good move you make.