Yes, friends, Gaia can be used for good.
Hey. I know it's been eons since I last blogged, but I can't pass this one up. Late last night, I was a bit bored and logged into Gaia. I entered one of the "towns", trying to avoid overcrowded areas 'cause they have this nasty tendency to slow down EVERYTHING. One of the guys already on my friends list was in one section so we got to chat a bit. Some time later on another guy approaches my character, asking me to follow him. When I asked why I was singled out, he said it was 'cause I was mature (meaning I wasn't spouting off random things about sex, which 99.9% of Gaians tend to do). My friend followed along, and we all went to a more secluded spot in the "town" to chat and get acquainted. At one point, I became upset, 'cause the new guy made some pretty rude remarks about some anime and TV shows that I happen to enjoy.
He tries to apologize, saying it's been programmed into his thinking (by his parents, he claimed) to always look out for himself. I shot back that it wouldn't hurt to take the opinions and feelings of others into consideration before saying anything. I guess that really upset him, 'cause he wanted to leave and started putting himself down. I apologized and told him I forgave him for those remarks. That really suprised him. Eventually through some coaxing he came back and we resumed chatting. The guy (I found he was 16, so from here on out I'll refer to him as "the kid".) after I asked how he got so much stuff through Gaia's "stores", began telling his story. I won't go into too much detail, but suffice to say he was a young online Cassanova who had done some pretty painful things. He then concluded that me and my friend must hate him. It's true that I was shocked and saddened by his story, but instead I told him it took a lot of guts to share this. I mean, he was flat out baring his soul to me.
He went on to again call himself a monster who couldn't be forgiven, wondering how God could love him. I gently explained to the kid that God loves everyone and doesn't have favorites, and that no sin under Heaven is so great that the blood of Jesus can't wash it away. Turns out he knew a bit about God, Heaven, and Jesus, but didn't quite know how the three pieces fit together. I explained how God is perfect, but because of sin, He must judge us. He did express awe in the fact that Jesus willingly died in his place. He said it was nice that I have hope in that. I said that he could have it too. Few minutes later he expressed that he was ready to accept God's gift of eternal life. I told him it was easy to do, seeing Jesus did all the hard work at the cross. I explained that he had to tell God that he admitted he had sinned and made some terrible mistakes in his life, acknowledge that Jesus died to take the punishment for his sins, ask for Him to come into his heart and save him, and last, ask for strength as he now begins his new life in Christ. A few minutes passed, then the kid said "The weight is gone."
I was real happy for him. He couldn't stop expressing his thanks for me helping him. I told him the credit belongs to God, and that He used me to reach out to him. He said "Well, thanks for being used (by God)." He said he already had a Bible, and I recommended he start with John's gospel. I then noticed how late it was (2am), and explained that I had to leave. I told him that now he's part of God's family, making him and me siblings in Christ, and that the angels were throwing a party in light of his salvation. He seemed to like that part a lot ;). So, we said goodnight and I encouraged him to keep trusting the Lord and talking with Him, then I logged out.
Man, I was so happy. Last thing I remember before finally falling asleep was thanking God for enabling me to reach out to the kid and praying hard on his behalf so that he'd remember that God loves him and will never leave his side.
So yes. God can use you, and any medium, to reach out to a hurting soul who needs to hear the Gospel.
He tries to apologize, saying it's been programmed into his thinking (by his parents, he claimed) to always look out for himself. I shot back that it wouldn't hurt to take the opinions and feelings of others into consideration before saying anything. I guess that really upset him, 'cause he wanted to leave and started putting himself down. I apologized and told him I forgave him for those remarks. That really suprised him. Eventually through some coaxing he came back and we resumed chatting. The guy (I found he was 16, so from here on out I'll refer to him as "the kid".) after I asked how he got so much stuff through Gaia's "stores", began telling his story. I won't go into too much detail, but suffice to say he was a young online Cassanova who had done some pretty painful things. He then concluded that me and my friend must hate him. It's true that I was shocked and saddened by his story, but instead I told him it took a lot of guts to share this. I mean, he was flat out baring his soul to me.
He went on to again call himself a monster who couldn't be forgiven, wondering how God could love him. I gently explained to the kid that God loves everyone and doesn't have favorites, and that no sin under Heaven is so great that the blood of Jesus can't wash it away. Turns out he knew a bit about God, Heaven, and Jesus, but didn't quite know how the three pieces fit together. I explained how God is perfect, but because of sin, He must judge us. He did express awe in the fact that Jesus willingly died in his place. He said it was nice that I have hope in that. I said that he could have it too. Few minutes later he expressed that he was ready to accept God's gift of eternal life. I told him it was easy to do, seeing Jesus did all the hard work at the cross. I explained that he had to tell God that he admitted he had sinned and made some terrible mistakes in his life, acknowledge that Jesus died to take the punishment for his sins, ask for Him to come into his heart and save him, and last, ask for strength as he now begins his new life in Christ. A few minutes passed, then the kid said "The weight is gone."
I was real happy for him. He couldn't stop expressing his thanks for me helping him. I told him the credit belongs to God, and that He used me to reach out to him. He said "Well, thanks for being used (by God)." He said he already had a Bible, and I recommended he start with John's gospel. I then noticed how late it was (2am), and explained that I had to leave. I told him that now he's part of God's family, making him and me siblings in Christ, and that the angels were throwing a party in light of his salvation. He seemed to like that part a lot ;). So, we said goodnight and I encouraged him to keep trusting the Lord and talking with Him, then I logged out.
Man, I was so happy. Last thing I remember before finally falling asleep was thanking God for enabling me to reach out to the kid and praying hard on his behalf so that he'd remember that God loves him and will never leave his side.
So yes. God can use you, and any medium, to reach out to a hurting soul who needs to hear the Gospel.