Article March 24, 1997 Issue

Why we are attracted only to God

Julio C. Rivas T.

While conducting Bible classes at a shelter for teenage runaways, I had an opportunity to teach and counsel many about their relation to God. There were several instances when, through everyone's prayers and efforts, young lives were touched by God's healing love with its regeneration and renewal. I learned that the key to making a difference was accepting God's infinite and ever-present love for all His children and then expressing this love in practical ways through kindness, forgiveness, firmness, compassion, understanding, and discipline.

While most runaways come from abusive homes and find it necessary to flee such circumstances, there are some who leave home because they are attracted to what they falsely think is the freedom of the streets. In either case, these people often end up prostituting themselves, becoming addicted to drugs, committing crimes and, at times, getting caught up in a fascination with evil itself.

Most teenagers are creative, intelligent, and caring. Only a relatively small percentage walk on the wrong side of life. It is important to acknowledge this because it reminds us that goodness in human nature outweighs the bad among young people. Still, those who come from decent homes sometimes end up deluded by evil's persuasions because they are hurting inside from unresolved issues about their own identity and their relationship to others. What often ensues is confusion, low self-esteem, rebellion, inner emptiness—a lack of clear and meaningful purpose. This makes them mentally and emotionally vulnerable.

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