Teaching Lonely Teenagers to Look to Jesus
As we seek to lead teenagers in the midst of depression and isolation, we must turn to the Bible as our resource for equipping them.
As we seek to lead teenagers in the midst of depression and isolation, we must turn to the Bible as our resource for equipping them.
By integrating biblical truth with right-hemisphere activities, you’ll better point students to the God who knows them, loves them, and desires them to come to him— both hemispheres included.
We must encourage students to trust in God’s work, which cannot be manipulated, while also challenging them to measure what they see by God’s own Word. This practice will equip them as they think of God’s work in their own lives.
Whereas our students feel dissatisfied with the fleeting promises of life “under the sun,” Jesus has revealed to us in the Beatitudes the wisdom of God that is far “above the sun,“ in which we can know true blessedness.
May it be that the next time a group of pollsters crunch the numbers on the faithfulness of our former students they, are astounded and encouraged at the changes God is making!
Walking alongside a teenager with an eating disorder is an opportunity to get involved in a difficult and messy situation that, through God’s grace, has the potential to become a beautiful story of redemption.
By your Spirit, please help me to embody the grace and truth of the gospel, of your beloved Son who is Grace and Truth in a Person.
Cheers to the tough kids, and to the opportunity we have as ministers of the gospel to show them the ways of Jesus, giving them a place to belong.
Most likely, a student isn’t disrupting your group time out of malice. Take the opportunity to be curious about what’s going on in his or her life.