Being a “good Christian” is not so much about performing any specific actions as it is simply believing in God as a higher power and growing in love for Our Lord Jesus Christ, allowing Him to transform your life.The following steps are all good activities for Christians, but the one thing that makes a true Christian is simply loving and trusting in God. Talk to a pastor, your parents, or other Christians if you have any questions about your belief in God. Find a church you really like—maybe it’s one that your parents, relatives, teachers, or friends go to—and attend services regularly. Church is a place where you can worship God, but also, connect with other Christians to help grow your faith and better understand Jesus’ message through sermons and Bible readings. Find out when your church holds other events and activities in addition to weekly services, such as Sunday School, charity events, or other ways to get involved with fellow Christians and the community. Talk to God daily to thank Him for his guidance, ask questions, confess sins, and pray for others to follow Jesus Christ in order to lead better and more fulfilling lives. Start by picking a time and location to pray every day. Whether you kneel, stand, or walk, there is not one way to pray, so find what is best for you. Start reading on your own or join a Bible study group. Take notes on what you find interesting, and write down questions about what confuses you. Talk to someone at your church or another Christian you trust to deepen your understanding of the scripture. Try reading just one passage every day and seek to understand it fully by asking all the questions you need to. Remember that even if you adopt another lifestyle like emo, as a Christian you worship God first and foremost. Being emo isn't the greatest commandment; loving the Lord is. The Bible says, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3) If other people at your church or in your Christian community approach you with negative judgment or untrue stereotypes about the emo way you act or dress, kindly talk to them about how being emo is just a way of expressing your personality and doesn’t interfere with worshipping God.  The Bible says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.’” (I Samuel 16:7) Use this and other Bible verses to help you explain self-expression and why your identity as emo doesn’t interfere with your identity as a Christian. You can even introduce others in your church to Christian emo bands to help them see the crossover between these two identities and share what you like.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Believe in God and Jesus Christ. Attend church. Pray. Read the Bible. Keep Christ first. Address negativity at church.


to raise your spirits. Take 10 to 15 minutes to stretch when you wake up and before you go to bed. Develop a routine and stretch your legs, back, and arms. Stretching regularly can energize your body, increase blood flow to your muscles, and help relieve symptoms of anxiety and depression. Since it might be hard to get motivated enough to exercise, stretching can be a good way to get moving if you’re depressed. Set aside about 15 minutes of time free of distractions. Find a comfortable place to sit, close your eyes, and take several slow, deep breaths. Inhale and tense one muscle group, such as your toes, then hold the tension for about five seconds. Let the tension go and relax the muscles as you exhale slowly. Notice the muscles go limp as the tension disappears. Repeat the process and work through the muscles in your legs, torso, arms, shoulders, neck, and head. From walking the dog to taking judo classes, aerobic exercise isn’t just good for your heart. It can reduce stress hormones and stimulate mood-elevating chemicals in your brain. Focusing on movement while you exercise also allows you to take a break from depression and any conflicts surrounding it. Having an exercise buddy can help keep you accountable on those days when you just want to stay in bed. Try to enlist a friend to help! Yoga involves meditation, physical exercise, and controlled breathing, so it can help ease both your mind and body. If you’re a beginner, look for classes at your local YMCA or yoga studio. You can also search for yoga videos on YouTube and health and fitness websites.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary -- Stretch your muscles Try progressive muscle relaxation. Try to get daily aerobic exercise. Start doing yoga.


Join a club, sport, or other extracurricular activity that she does to spend more time around her and get to know her better. Talk to her about the club or sport, and even ask her for tips if you’re new and just learning about what you’re doing. Avoid joining in on everything that the girl is a part of, as she might become suspicious or annoyed that you’re suddenly everywhere she goes. Instead, choose some of her activities that you are genuinely interested in getting involved with and learning more about. Join her at a table at lunch, sit next to her in a class, or another occasion during or after school. You don’t need to sit right next to her at lunch, just at the same table and close enough that you can start a conversation and make eye contact with her. Start with a simple “Hey, can I sit here?” Then you can move on to other easy topics, like school subjects or a school dance coming up. Don’t be afraid to talk to everyone else at the table, too, and not just her. Talk to her friends individually or when they’re in a group and get to know them by being kind, asking questions, and finding things in common, just like you do with her. Learn more about her through them, and she will notice and feel comfortable around you when you’re friendly with all of her friends, too. Don’t worry about trying to get her alone and away from her friends if you always see her with them. It might be hard to talk to her with others around, but if you talk to everyone in the group, not just her, it will be a lot easier to feel comfortable with them and get chances later to catch her one-on-one. When you’re in a group or sitting together, stand or sit near her so you can be ready to start a conversation. Don’t violate her personal space or boundaries, or touch her without permission, but you can let her know you’re there with a wave or come up closer to talk to her. If you don’t want to get too close to her, you can still subtly mimic her body language to send a signal that you’re paying attention to her. If she crosses her arms, leans her head on her hand, or stands with her hands in her pockets while she’s talking to you, wait at least 20 seconds and do the same or something similar. Don’t engage in teasing or taunting behavior that you might see other boys doing to get a girl’s attention; she will not like you or be interested in you at all. Never touch her or her stuff without asking first, tease her with names, or say anything about her body. Treat her with respect and be kind to her if you want her attention.  You can get suspended or expelled from school or get into other major trouble for touching or harassing a girl, so don’t do it. Even calling her names or teasing her when you’re chatting on the computer or texting is wrong, could get you in trouble, and should never be done. Don’t follow what you learn on TV or movies, from video games, or other boys your age or older if they talk about calling girls certain names or making any comments about how a girl’s body has changed or how it looks. Call a girl by her own name or what she prefers to be called, and say nice things to her, preferably about her personality rather than how she looks. Be friends with a girl if she’s not interested in dating or anything else with you. Also listen to what she says and leave her alone entirely if she asks you to.
++++++++++
One-sentence summary --
Participate in some of her activities. Sit next to her at lunch. Get to know her friends. Stand or sit near her. Beware of harassing a girl.