I want to ask you today to think about yourself when you were a teenager. What were the things that were important to you? What were the things that upset you? What things might you have done differently if you had to do it over again? As difficult as it may be, allow yourself to go back and remember all of these details. Experience the peer pressures to go against what your parents taught. Feel the pain of that friend that betrayed you or the boy or girl you liked who didn’t like you back. Settle in under the weight of pressures to do well in classes. Wrestle with the anxiety of fitting in with those around you.
Let all that settle in for a few moments.
Are you uncomfortable? Now, realize that there are hundreds of students in our community going through these same things right now. Some of the details have changed, but the basic things teenagers go through have not.
In the midst of all of this, we must do all we can to point our young people to Christ, because only in Him can they safely navigate these challenges. What is your role in helping them? Certainly prayer, and I hope we all continue to lift up our students to the Lord, but it goes beyond that. Are we willing to help sponsor events that can draw our youth to the Lord? Are we willing to adjust our schedules to accommodate these impressionable lives? Are we willing to consider giving up some of our traditions and preferences if it may help connect a young life to the love of their Creator?