In a world full of evil and sin, many look towards other things to comfort or distract themselves from the realities of this wicked Earth. Many choose family, some choose their work… Some choose religion. There was a time where being a good Christian was to be celebrated, rejoiced when you gave God your life. But today, it seems as though many that choose to place the Lord in their hearts and follow under His guidance are frowned upon. They are shamed for their apparent “lifestyle.” Many call them “evil.” Several call them “homophobes.” Some call them “inhuman.” There are instances where people would willingly fill their hearts with such hate towards men and women of God to the point where they will terrorize, kidnap, assault, and subject them to martyrdom.

I, too, have been shamed for my beliefs. I once was merely expressing my love for God and my beliefs with a group I called my friends but one of the girls, who was not a believer in Christ and was not exactly listening to my conversation, heard the word “Christianity” in our conversation and decided to intercede by stabbing us Christians with the dagger edge of her tongue and began to cuss towards all Christians, telling me that they were homophobic. I then asked her, “I’m a Christian; does that mean you will cuss me out now?” She paused before placing a hand on my shoulder and telling me: “You’re still young, Ella. You have time to grow out of that phase.” A phase, she called it. Dare she say that I was still “young and immature” when we were the same age. She then went back to conversing happily whilst I sat quietly without once being asked by anyone if I was alright with the fact I had just been shamed for my beliefs.

For the longest time after that, I had never spoken a word about my faith in God to anyone since, afraid I would be shamed and stalked, or worse. This deeply affected my relationship with Him; I lost the motivation to pray, I stopped reading the Bible, and I loathed going to Church. I turned away from Him and lost myself to this immoral and corrupt world. Talking to people about my faith in God made me incredibly anxious that I shut Him out of my life. But then, I heard the story of a woman, a saint of the Catholic faith, that changed my perspective.

This woman was named Joan of Arc who lived during the medieval period, where religion was strongly encouraged. Joan lived as a peasant girl in her beginning, but soon, she believed she was acting under the divine guidance of God and voices. She believed the voices to be St. Michael, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Margaret of Antioch; all saints of the Catholic Church. Joan let them influence her in her life and she was guided to lead the French Army in a rejoiceful victory at Orléans. Joan let the Lord guide her to lead the army to many fights, win many battles, and defend her country. She later became an example in France to her people and was greatly honored. Joan was as committed a soldier to her King as she was to her religion. But sadly, many people did not see it this way. Still following the voices of the saints and acting under God’s light, she was eventually captured during a great battle and eventually was questioned by the church when she was released from the enemy’s clutches. She was being questioned about her “voices” that she would hear and she was honest through it all. Many people believed she was a heretic for saying these things and claimed she was not a true Catholic, even after all she had done for them. After many months of pleading her side of the story and remaining truthful about her acting under divine guidance, she was eventually found “guilty” of heresy and burned at the stake.

Joan of Arc was a powerful leader as much as she was a strong Catholic. She never faltered in her religion and remained true and honest to it, even at the stake when she was shouting prayers as she was being burned. In the Catholic Church, years later, they saw power in her story. They saw a strong, Catholic woman who was led under God’s divine guidance and contributed greatly to the French. To this day, she joined many of the saints in the Catholic Church.

When I hear of her story, I feel power and strength in Joan. Even though many around her were Catholic as well, Joan was not seen as one even though she dedicated her entire life to the Lord. Yet she was unashamed of it all; even when she was at the stake, she prayed and relied on the Lord until the end. Her story inspired me to not be afraid of my religion, despite what anyone around me may think or say. As it is stated in John 15, Verses 18, Jesus Christ tells His soldiers of good faith: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” So, if you are anything like me and feel as though you must change yourself to have others like you, do not. Leave that group of friends. Forget those people that judged or hated you for your choices in life. Leave behind all that hatred and follow the light. After all, if we are all a part of the Lord’s army, we soldiers must fight for our King.