I must congratulate you on the work that you are doing. I am a Christian and I am in love with the assistant pastor of our church. I am 17 years old. He plays the guitar and the drums and he sings well. Sometimes when he is preaching I stare at him. Some of the young people know that I like him. And I found out that they like him too, but not as much as I do.

When I go to bed I can't sleep. My mind is on him. I am not jealous over him. When he is talking to the members of the church I try to wait my turn. But sometimes by the time he is finished and can talk to me, my parents are ready for us to leave and I have to travel with them.

He has never told me that he loves me and I have never said it to him. I heard from a church brother that he has a girlfriend, but she is not from our church. I don't know what to do. Please tell me what to do.

O.P

Dear O.P,

It is natural for young people to be attracted to each other. And even to believe that they are genuinely in love. You are not committing sin by admiring this young man. However, you should remain a secret admirer of him and not let it be known that you love him because he might not be interested in you. And you are not yet an adult.

I want to assure you that sometimes girls see men and really love them. And sometimes it's just infatuation. It's not genuine love. When it's infatuation it wears off. When it's genuine love it gets deeper and deeper in the heart. And the couple don't even have to touch each other.

Whatever is happening to you is affecting you because when you are in the company of the brother you cannot even concentrate. So the next time you go to church, make sure you don't stare at him. Just try to worship.

Pastor