This last week, I went to a leadership camp for my school. I really enjoyed it and learned alot about how you can be a leader for Christ. Being a leader doesn't mean that you have to control every situation or be bossy, it just means that you can stand up for the kid that being gossiped about or taking a stand to defend Jesus. The leadership retreat was about 'Doing Hard Things' a book by Alex and Brett Harris which can be found in Resources for You. We live in a world where you are taught to take short cuts and not take the long right way. Just like my pastor said, "The road to Hell is wide and short, and the road to Heaven is long and narrow, but you know what? It's worth it!". This world tells us that we shouldn't and are to young to do hard things, but God has a purpose and plan for us, so sometimes we have to do the hard thing to reach it. Next, I would like to talk about steping out of your comfort zone. Did you know that it is good to fail? You learn new things every time you fail. You might be scared to try new things and step out of your comfort zone, but the good thing is that God is always right there waiting for you to fall so He can catch you. Us humans have a wall, its a wall that keeps us from bad thing and only lets us see and do what we want, but if we imagine to many bad things, we will never get to see the chance God has for us. Raise the bar as a leader, do what's hard for you, not what's easy. The Christian life is not about avoiding bad things, it's also about looking for chances that God has for you. When you fail and get back up again, in God's eyes, you are being faithful and learning. If there is something that you want to do in your life and you go into it thinking that you are going to fail, you will! But if you go into it with a positive attitude thinking that you can do because you have Jesus with you, you will succeed. Lastly, I want to talk about taking a stand. Stand up for what is right and not what is wrong. Jesus is your right, not drugs, smoking and cussing and so forth. If kids around you are doing wrong, then step out of the group and just say "Hey, that's not right. What your doing is not right in the eye's of the Lord"
Just because your friends are doing this and saying these words, doesn't mean you can't take a stand. You can tell them and talk to them about what they are doing and tell them that it's not right. Take a stand for God and do hard things.