Twenty-three years ago, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered Columbine High School armed with guns and explosives, killing thirteen people and injuring over twenty others. The Columbine massacre was a tragedy that affected the entire nation, and people today still grieve the lives that were lost that fateful April day. The first victim to be shot and killed was a seventeen-year-old Christian girl named Rachel Joy Scott. A fellow student who survived the attack claimed that Rachel was asked a question moments before her death— “Do you still believe in your God?”

In 2016, I went to the movie theater with some other girls in my youth group and watched I’m Not Ashamed, a movie based on Rachel’s life and death. When the movie ended, I came to the realization that we live in a world where one day someone could put a gun to my head and tell me to deny God or die. I resolved that day that if I ever were threatened harm or death because of my faith, I would never deny my Savior.

It’s hard for us to imagine that this could ever happen to us, but Rachel Joy Scott is neither the first nor the last Christian to die because of her belief in Jesus. As followers of Christ, it should be expected that we face hardship and persecution (John 16:33). The world hates us because it hated Jesus first, but we shouldn’t let that stop us from proclaiming the truth of the gospel (Matthew 10:32-33). There’s no better example of this than Stephen in the book of Acts.