Youth Misconception #1
You Can not be A Strong Christian When Your Young
I am now going on 10 years of working in youth ministry and there is one misconception that I hear often. This misconception is not only mentioned by teens themselves but even by adults. Some people think that a youth can’t comprehend the meaning of grace or salvation. The result of this misconception is an adolescent who will not hunger and thirst after righteousness as well as adults who will not desire to reach a generation that needs to be reached. I put this as misconception #1 because this is a lie from the enemy used to stop the growth, power, and change of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the youth today.
In J. C. Ryle’s Thoughts for Young Men, he says,
“Think for a moment what you were sent into the world for. Not merely to eat and drink, and indulge the desires of the flesh-not merely to dress out your body, and follow its lusts whithersoever they may lead you-not merely to work, and sleep, and laugh, and talk, and enjoy yourselves, and think of nothing but time. No! you were meant for something higher and better than this. You were placed here to train for eternity.”
I truly believe that a tween, teen, young person, young adult, adolescent, or whatever you want to call them can not only be a Christian, I believe they can be used greatly for God’s glory. Look at David in the Bible who was a youth and was used to kill a giant, lead a nation, and be a man after God’s own heart. Look at Daniel who was a youth, taken to a foreign country and was able to not compromise on believing in God and became a leader and example to a nation that needed to see one of the Living God.
No matter what age sin is sin, you can be an elderly person and sin just as much as an adolescent. So if the same is true of sin, why not salvation? You can be a young man or a young woman and live for the Lord. There is no excuse about waiting until you are older. Now is the day for salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2). I am excited to know that God can use a teen for his glory just like he did in with those teens in the Bible. At this age, you do not have to be the normal statistic and waste away your responsibility as a teen but why not be different and be used by the Lord. Did you know that you were created to train for eternity?
