As I've grown up, I've noticed that there is a misconception, and a stereotype, about the Young Southern Christian. A lot of people think that young people are Christians because they are expected to be by their family or their culture, because what young person chooses to be bound within the confines of a God with nothing to give but rules, right?

Wrong.

I live in the South, and I'm a Christian. I am not a Christian because I live in the South.

I grew up in a Christian home, and I'm a Christian. I am not a Christian because I grew up in a Christian home.

So, yes. I was raised in Bible Belt America. Christianity was shoved in my face. I learned about Jonah and Noah and Adam and Eve from the day I was born. My children's books were about Biblical characters, and my nursery was decorated with angels and verses from the Bible. I went to a Christian school until high school, and I memorized verses for homework. My family never missed a Sunday unless there was a very good reason. But I wasn't a Christian; I acted like one because I was part of a Christian family in Bible Belt America.

But then I became a Christian becuase I met Jesus. He showed up and became real to me. He became more than a requirement of living in the South. He became a person that lived and died for me. I realized that I needed Him in my life, and not because someone was telling me that I was going to Hell. I came to that realization because I was empty, and I had nothing to live for. Without Jesus, why was I even alive?

I'm perfectly capable of making up my own mind about which "religion" I want to be a part of, and I just happened to choose the same one that my family chose. That doesn't mean that I was brainwashed; it simply means that my family members met Jesus just as humbly and gloriously as I did. It means that they saw the Truth before I did, and they raised me to value that Truth.

I'm a Christian becuase I've experienced a comfort that no one else can give me. I've heard a truth that I can't read anywhere else. I've been surrounded by people of like faith that are kind, supportive, and honest. I've prayed prayers that are full and don't bounce off of the four walls around me. I've sang songs that are heard by more people than are in the room. And I've cried tears that weren't produced because someone hurt me, and I'm living a life that I'm not in control of. It's not for my glory, and that thought, my friend, is freeing.

I'm not sorry for being a Christian, and I'm not ashamed of it. I'm a Christian on my own terms, because I'm on His terms. This thing He and I have going--it's personal. Not cultural. Not familial.