Working with young people has been one of the biggest joys of my life. I have had the privilege and opportunity to be a part of many special moments in the lives of quite a few young people over the years, and many of those will be some of my best memories as I grow older.
One of the challenges of working with young people is how rapidly their thoughts and moods change. One moment you might have a happy, energetic youth, and then you suddenly have a moody, sullen young person who makes you want to pull your hair out. There has been more than one moment where I've looked at the young person that I have been interacting with thinking, "Who exactly are you at this particular moment?"
But one of the great joys of working with young people is seeing them grow, becoming more mature, and taking more ownership of their lives. And that's where I want to go with today's post. Just like change does not often happen easily or quickly, working to enact change by raising up young people in the way that they should go is also going to be a longer process than what we might wish or hope for. And yet, in the end, it's very likely that we will find very few other pursuits in life more rewarding.
Perhaps the best starting point is with those who have the God-given joy, privilege, and responsibility to bear the title "Parent." I know dealing with your kids is a challenge. In my life, I'm just entering into that challenge with my 9 month old. Many of you have much more experience and history than I do. And yet, there is a reason that God created the man and woman to come together in the union of marriage, and from that foundation to create the foundation of society, that of the family.
As parents, you have the greatest impact on any change that you may want to see in culture and society. If you don't like the fairly rampant promiscuity that you see, you can work to change things by interacting with your children. How you approach the topics and changes that you would like to see is also important, but perhaps the most important thing is simply to be there with your children, and to keep the lines of communication open with them. Also, don't let them be the ones to initiate the conversations, either. There are some things that they will be more comfortable bringing to you, and others that they will want to avoid as much as possible. Even if the conversation is awkward, it's better to have an awkward conversation than to let them learn about certain things from their friends, or TV, or the internet.
Change always begins in the home. A Christian man of about 500 years ago realized this, and developed an instrument to assist parents in teaching their children about the Christian faith. His name was Martin Luther, and the instrument he developed is called the Small Catechism. I honestly believe that many parents could help shape the future culture by reading that small instruction book together, and then talking about the topics that they read.
Young people have their finger on the pulse of the culture. You can expect clashes as they struggle with the development of their identities and the content of their faith. But more on that tomorrow!
One of the challenges of working with young people is how rapidly their thoughts and moods change. One moment you might have a happy, energetic youth, and then you suddenly have a moody, sullen young person who makes you want to pull your hair out. There has been more than one moment where I've looked at the young person that I have been interacting with thinking, "Who exactly are you at this particular moment?"
But one of the great joys of working with young people is seeing them grow, becoming more mature, and taking more ownership of their lives. And that's where I want to go with today's post. Just like change does not often happen easily or quickly, working to enact change by raising up young people in the way that they should go is also going to be a longer process than what we might wish or hope for. And yet, in the end, it's very likely that we will find very few other pursuits in life more rewarding.
Perhaps the best starting point is with those who have the God-given joy, privilege, and responsibility to bear the title "Parent." I know dealing with your kids is a challenge. In my life, I'm just entering into that challenge with my 9 month old. Many of you have much more experience and history than I do. And yet, there is a reason that God created the man and woman to come together in the union of marriage, and from that foundation to create the foundation of society, that of the family.
As parents, you have the greatest impact on any change that you may want to see in culture and society. If you don't like the fairly rampant promiscuity that you see, you can work to change things by interacting with your children. How you approach the topics and changes that you would like to see is also important, but perhaps the most important thing is simply to be there with your children, and to keep the lines of communication open with them. Also, don't let them be the ones to initiate the conversations, either. There are some things that they will be more comfortable bringing to you, and others that they will want to avoid as much as possible. Even if the conversation is awkward, it's better to have an awkward conversation than to let them learn about certain things from their friends, or TV, or the internet.
Change always begins in the home. A Christian man of about 500 years ago realized this, and developed an instrument to assist parents in teaching their children about the Christian faith. His name was Martin Luther, and the instrument he developed is called the Small Catechism. I honestly believe that many parents could help shape the future culture by reading that small instruction book together, and then talking about the topics that they read.
Young people have their finger on the pulse of the culture. You can expect clashes as they struggle with the development of their identities and the content of their faith. But more on that tomorrow!
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