Dear Teenagers,
I used to be one of you. I remember the turmoil and the angst. I remember the hurt of dealing with people who let me down. I remember feeling lost, lonely and out-of-place. I remember fighting with my parents. I remember wanting to runaway from all of it. Sometimes this season of your life just sucks.
Sometimes it feels like you are a burden to your family and everyone around you. But here’s some things that I want you to know. You can be a blessing to them instead of a burden.
Remember:
Sin is a choice.
Just because you are young doesn’t mean that drinking, sex, cussing and sex talk have to be part of your life. Those things are sin. Sin isn’t automatic. It is a choice every time, a choice to disobey a holy and just God who made you and loves you very much.
How can a young person stay pure? By obeying your word. Psalm 119:9
Remember your Creator while you are young, before the bad times come—before the years come when you say, “I have wasted my life.” Ecc. 12:1
Immaturity is a choice.
Immaturity and irresponsibility are not genetic or biological. They are a choice. Generations for thousands of years before you started raising their own families at your age. Did you know that God came to Mary and picked her to be the mother of his son when she was about 14? Yeah, God knows you got what it takes. Live like.
Mary was the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah. Matthew 1:16
Offer your abilities.
As a former teenager turned adult, I know we need you. We need your help. Your young bodies have a lot more flexibility and energy than our tired, old bones. We need you to help run the house. We need you to help with younger siblings, caring for grandparents, yard work and house work and all kinds of work. Teenagers have actually been doing this since the beginning of time.
Here I am, standing by this well of water, and the young women from the city are coming out to get water. Gen. 24:13
Offer your spiritual strength.
Every member of your family is fighting some spiritual battle. Pray for them. Pray for your parents. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Help carry the weight of the spiritual burdens in your family. Help them be right with God.
The bible tells the story of an unnamed girl who did this in a totally over-the-top way.
Jephthah made a promise to the Lord. He said, “If you will let me defeat the Ammonites, I will give you the first thing that comes out of my house when I come back from the victory. I will give it to the Lord as a burnt offering.”
The Israelites defeated them…
When Jephthah saw that his daughter was the first thing to come out of his house, he tore his clothes to show his sadness. Then he said, “Oh, my daughter! You have ruined me! You have made me very sad! I made a promise to the Lord, and I cannot change it!”
Then his daughter said to Jephthah, “Father, you have made a promise to the Lord, so keep your promise. Do what you said you would do. After all, the Lord did help you defeat your enemies, the Ammonites.”
Read the entire story in Judges 11.
You think your parents have made some stupid mistakes? This guy promised to sacrifice, as a BURNT offering (like with fire), the first things that came from his house if God gave him victory. Well, God came through. And so did his daughter, through the front door.
In order to keep his promise to God, Jephthah has to sacrifice his daughter, with fire. And she agrees. She does it! I’d be running to the high hills and let my dad deal with God himself. Not her. She offers her life to keep her father right with God.
What will you do to keep your family right with God? Will you learn the word of God to help them? Will you pray for them? Will you bring the presence of God into your home?
Being a teenager is hard but it isn’t impossible. You can do this. You can be a blessing instead of a burden. You can make these teen years amazing all the while glorifying God as you do it.
Praise him, young men and women, old people and children. Praise the Lord’s name! Honor his name forever! Psalm 148
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