Saturday, August 26, 2006

only 4 percent

According to Enjoying Everyday Life magazine only 4 percent of teenagers today are going to become Christians. This shocked me to read even though I already know the great need to get Christ out to our youth. This should open our eyes to find out exactly where are our teens going. And not just the teens we parent (I have a long way to go for that) but all the world's teens. I believe it's vital to get to teens because they are in that huge transition of childhood to adulthood. They desire meaning in their lives and want to know where to go from here. (Even if they roll their eyes and act like they don't care.) I thank God for sending me a father who knew the importance of teaching me about Jesus' everlasting love and took me to church. But so many teens resist that because they come from families with unsaved parents or overly strict/righteous parents and live in a world that questions the Bible and they don't know where to truly turn. I think the biggest thing we need to get across to them is God's acceptance. Even Christian teens have a hard time believing that God loves and accepts them despite the mistakes they made and that holding on to Jesus will change them from the inside out without them having to try so hard. There was one girl I talk to in my youth group that had a list of things she needed to stop doing and she was telling me how hard it was and how sometimes she wants to give up. I told her how she was doing it backwards. You have to walk in love first. Love God and listen to His voice and allow Him to work in your life and next thing you know those temptations won't be so hard to conquer anymore. We have to share God's love before we give teens this long list of do's and don'ts. (After all, we have do's and don'ts we will always be working on ourselves) The youth is very important to God because their minds are fresh and they are open to faith much easier then adults.
That's why I also feel blessed to have this calling to reach out to young people. If you haven't already, check out Beyond It All Magazine dedicated to take the teen above and beyond the problems of life through the love of Jesus Christ and considering ordering or donating today.

1 Timouth 4:12 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

2 comments:

kelly said...

There is a great book that I would highly suggest reading and giving to the teen girls you work with. It's called For Young Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn. As i read it I thought about how much I wish this book was available to me when I was a teen. please check it out. blessings~

Telika said...

thank you very much for your comments! I will check that book out ableknife and celest I will be visiting your blog.thanks for the liking my blog!