During my time in college, I joined a sorority. It was a good way to make friends, stay busy, and make the most of my time in university. I ended up pledging a sorority called Delta Phi Epsilon, and mainly because my friend was already a sister and encouraged me to rush.

It felt like a long process– meeting the sisters, finding a connection with them, going through rounds of meet and greets– all leading up to receiving my bid and joining the sisterhood. After a semester, I got to see the process from the inside: the long hours of discussing every girl that walked through the doors to meet us. And after each conversation, we decided as a group whether we wanted to see that girl again. Each round of meet and greets led up to that ultimate moment where you choose the girls you invite into the sorority.

I’ve been a part of youth ministry for 10 years now. It’s pretty safe to say that I’ve seen most things, from giving a standing ovation at school plays to sitting and playing cards in a psych ward. It’s true that youth ministry requires a youth leader to put on many hats, so to speak: advisor, friend, leader, teacher, support system, cheerleader, etc. But I think one of the most important parts of youth ministry is helping a younger person through the early stages of figuring out how to make their faith their own. For a lot of youth that I’ve worked with, they’re at the point in their life where their idea of Jesus is mostly made up of what their parents and relatives say He is. Until this point, they haven’t really thought deeply about what the Bible says, just what other people have taught them it says. So as a youth leader, you have the really cool opportunity to course correct some misunderstandings they have about what the Bible says about certain things.

It’s such a simple thought, but just ponder it: faith is the heart and soul of our relationship with God. It is the igniter that brought us to the cross and moved us to commit to Him. It is the lens through which we see the world and the litmus test we use to turn conviction into life-change. It is a tool we use to search our hearts and the baton we must be desperate to pass on to as many people as we can possibly manage.