In just a few months, our high school seniors will graduate, and it will most likely be one of those days that they will remember for the rest of their lives. It’s a big day because it marks the beginning of a new era of their life – adulthood. Many of our seniors will soon head to college or jump into a full-time job. I am sure you remember those days well; it’s a massive change.
It also often marks new opportunities and challenges spiritually. Now each of these young men and women will decide for themselves who they will follow and who they will seek. The opportunities for spiritual growth and maturity are huge – to stand for Jesus Christ as their own person and to continue to develop their relationship of knowing God and his word. But many challenges lie ahead – these young adults will encounter many who will try to persuade them to follow their own desires rather than pursuing Christ. Many temptations lie ahead, so the time to prepare for this is right now.
In Elevate this semester, we are studying how to prepare for the journey of living out your faith, and this isn’t just for the seniors – even the freshmen in high school are only a few years from launching out on their own. So we are asking the question – what can I do now to prepare to live for God? We have taught on several topics already. Over the past month, we have looked at living a life of integrity – how can I be honest and truthful in how I conduct my life? Next, we discussed how important our words are to others by speaking the truth in love. Just recently, we discussed our work. Such a large portion of our life will be spent in our occupations, how should we do our jobs? We discovered we needed to focus on working with energy, enthusiasm, and excellence for God’s glory in both school and on the job. We will continue this semester looking at various topics to strengthen the faith of our young people as they prepare for the journey into adulthood.
I am thankful for our Cutting Edge Youth Center small group leaders that have much wisdom and life experience to draw from in these areas and can discuss these issues with our teens from a biblical perspective. Encourage your teen to come along the journey with us on Wednesday nights as we prepare for the journey of living out your faith.