If you have worked with teens for very long, you have talked with quite a few who have managed to entangle themselves in sin – even at their young age. Often part of the story includes a statement something like, “Since I had already committed xyz sin, I figured it didn’t matter that much if I committed abc sin (or xyz sin over and over).” Whenever I hear a teen or young adult say that, I just want to cry. They have bought Satan’s lie about a “tipping point” sin.
Somehow, these young people didn’t learn how to recover from that first sin and continue on a Christian path, where they still sinned, but didn’t give up and turn their life over to sin. It’s heartbreaking, both because it was avoidable and because turning their life over to sin causes all sorts of negative consequences. They can restore their relationship with God, but those earthly consequences may continue for the rest of their lives.
So what do we need to teach our kids so when they reach that decision point they don’t give up, leave God’s path and live a life of sin and its consequences? There are no guarantees, but making sure your children understand these important principles, may help them recover from their sins in more spiritually healthy ways.
Recently, I was talking with a counselor who works with young adults. One of the concerns many, including this counselor, share is the increasing lack of resiliency they are seeing in children, teens and young adults.
After decades of working with all sorts of children and teens, I have seen a few who are what I would consider truly troubled. Even though I have some limited training in how to minister to their parents, I am not a counselor nor have I raised a child who was troubled. I am always searching for resources though, that may help parents through a valley that must seem impossibly deep and wide.
While I am the first to be unhappy if a man thinks I am somehow inferior merely because I am a woman, I think we have lost a lot of important things in our quest to be politically correct. Perhaps one of the most important is recognizing the legitimate differences between men and women and the way God created them. One is not better or worse than the other, just different. In fact, as you know our strengths are also the gateway to our weaknesses.
Schools don’t start here for another month or so, but school supply areas are already filled in box retailers. school supplies now cost pennies on the dollar compared to what they cost the rest of the year. You can buy a lot of supplies for not much money at all if you watch the special sales that they often add to the already lower prices. Then bring the supplies home and have some fun in these last hot days of summer using them to teach your kids about God.