California Catholic Daily reporter, Mary Rose, visits a California college each week and asks students about God, good, and evil. Interviews with Isela, who is studying kinesiology, outside the computer labs, and with Jessica, who is studying psychology, outside the business division office at Southwestern College in Chula Vista on November 19, 2019.

ISELA

Do you consider yourself religious?

Isela: Yes. I think all my life I’ve been a Christian. I’ve always believed in God. I don’t have strict rules or anything like that but I try to do good to people, forgive people, and things like that. Don’t do evil.

How do you decide what’s good and what’s evil?

Isela: I’m not sure about that. I’ve always been taught to be this way, so I guess the Bible is where we learn it from.

If someone asked you where the Bible came from, what would you say?

Isela: God. I’m not really sure. People always ask me that: who created the Bible, how did God exist? All I know is that I believe in Him. I don’t know what’s so wrong about just believing. We believe in other things that we can’t really see or touch. 

If someone asked you why you believe in God, what would you say?

Isela: I have seen miracles happen in my family in hospitals. We pray, we pray, and it happens. Even things that no medicine can do. I guess that’s why I believe in it. No one can change my mind.

Do try to share your faith with other people?

Isela: I try, yes. I’m not embarrassed to share it. It’s kind of hard, especially with people my age, because they’re really stubborn in their minds. They either don’t want to believe in it or they do. It’s really rare when young people do believe in it. I invite them to church and they do come and they feel God’s love and they stay for a while but they leave because it’s so hard in this world. There’s so much evil in this world. So much temptation to do drugs and all those things. When something bad happens they think that God’s not with them anymore. It’s not that, it’s just that God’s putting them to a test. Keep your faith in Him through all the hardships. Believe in Him, pray, pray, He will help you even through all the hardships. You can’t just walk away once it’s hard. If you’re hurt, give your heart to Him because He’ll help you.

If someone asked you who Jesus is, what would you say?

Isela: I’m not really sure how to explain that. I don’t know His physical appearance I just know how He loves everyone. He forgives sins.  I can’t tell you exactly who Jesus is because I’ve never met Him.

JESSICA

Do you consider yourself religious?

Jessica: Yes. I love God. He’s my everything. I can’t live without Him. All of the victories that I have are just for Him. Everything I have is for Him. I live for Him. 

If someone asked you why you believe in God, what would you say?

Jessica: Some people don’t know what He gave for us before we were born. Without Him, we wouldn’t be here. Because everything is His. He made all this for us. I cannot live without Him.

If someone asked you who Jesus is, what would you say?

Jessica: He’s the only God. That’s a lot to explain. He’s the only one who pays for us. Sometimes we have to pay for what we did, but He is the only one who paid before we did something wrong. So it’s by the grace that we are here. Sometimes we think that Jesus or God is going to punish you for everything bad that you did. But that is not true. By the grace of God, before you do wrong things He knows, so He forgives you. He is still there for you. It doesn’t matter what you do or what you did wrong.

How do you decide what’s right and what’s wrong?

Jessica: Example, in this time it’s normal to have a couple that live together without marriage. but in the Bible it doesn’t say that. It’s normal that everyone has a relationship without marriage, but it’s not good. I follow the Bible. I don’t believe in churches. I just believe in God. Christianity, why? Because God, Jesus Christ. So this morning when I woke up, my first thing that I do is pray before I start my day, before I drink my coffee that I really need.

If someone asked you where the Bible came from, what would you say?

Jessica: From the Holy Spirit. Yeah, from a human being, but fully within the Holy Spirit. You can’t understand it if you’re not connected with the Holy Spirit. Even the worst people can read the Bible but they don’t understand it because they’re not connected with the Holy Spirit. To them, it’s just another book. There’s nothing in there for you if you don’t have a relationship with God.

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