When our Video Production Director, Hunter Ives, was a senior in high school, he wrote this meditation for Youth Sunday worship at his home church (First Presbyterian in Charlotte). Yesterday, he shared it as the devotional for our staff meeting, in its original, unedited version. While you won’t have the benefit of his droll delivery or entertaining commentary on his teenage self, we think you’ll find it worth a read.

I’ll bet that most of you don’t know Superman’s real name. No, not Clark Kent; his real Kryptonian name: Kal-El. I’ll also assume that not many of you know that in Pokémon Red, once you leave Silph Co. with the Master Ball, you have to save it until you find Mewtwo. It’s next to impossible to catch him with a regular Pokéball. I didn’t know these things either, but my friend Dani did.

In middle school, during the ironically named FAT time, or fresh air time, the AG Middle version of recess, everyone would spill out of the doors onto the back of campus. Friends would talk, kids would play basketball, and Dani, would walk all alone behind the trees and sit. She was constantly made fun of for dressing like her favorite anime characters or playing Pokémon during recess. In the hustle and bustle of socializing and well, *middle school* I always felt a kinship towards Dani, so every day I would go right towards her. I made sure to talk to her and make her feel included, even if it meant being berated myself for talking Pokémon battle strategies with someone who didn’t have many friends. I have always tried to go out of my way to be kind and loving to those who are left out or feel alone, because my anxiety had made me feel that way before. Even if I may be in the line of fire, I know within me that’s what God has called me to do.

1 John 3:16-24 says, “this is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

Both love and action are very powerful things, and we as Christians have all tried to live our lives combining both into a single unit with the purpose of serving God.

This scripture spoke to me on a very personal level. Whether on stage performing theatre at Myers Park or up in the pulpit with my dad advertising youth fundraisers, to most I may seem confident and comfortable in my own skin. But most of my life growing up, I wasn’t. My anxiety has always been a struggle and I have been bullied and made fun of plenty of times. My mind always finds something for me to worry about, however practical or impractical. I was anxious, scared, and more often than not, scared to act. Even when I knew I had to.

Loving others is hard, especially those who don’t seem to show you the same love back. But since God loves us, we are called to love the world and everyone in it. Jesus taught love not just with words, but also with action. And that’s how I have tried to live my entire life. Always trying to love with action, even if my anxiety tries to keep me back. “We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” Jesus acted in the greatest way when he was crucified: he laid down his own life for love because he knew that he couldn’t be scared to act. He knew that the only way to overcome fear, to truly love and accept someone, is to act, even if it means stepping outside of your comfort zone. I stepped outside of my comfort zone to befriend Dani, and I have done the same with many others since then, because once you realize where your comfort zone ends, you can take the step over it and begin to love with action.

Once you leave this sanctuary today, remember to love with all your heart, act with all your might, and overcome your anxieties to do both.