Back to school

School has started here for the surrounding school districts, and I am in awe of how teenagers can juggle so many different commitments.  I thought that juggling work, ministry, and a family was difficult; but students these days juggle so much more.  Students not only have their school work, but then there are after school activities.  Some have a job, and almost all of them have their responsibilities at home.  It is very easy for students to get caught up in the whirlwind of school that they lose sight of themselves and of Christ.

Most students want to fit in at school.  They want to have friends and have different social engagements to add to their already very full calendars.  I admit it makes school a lot easier if you have a large circle of friends to lean on.  While students lean on their friends, they are also influenced by their friends.  In an effort to fit in, choices can be made that will take the student further from Christ and themselves. 

I have seen good kids make poor choices.  I have also seen good kids make good choices, but I want to focus on the poor choices.  I have made poor choices throughout my life.  I look back on some of the situations I put myself in, and I shudder.  What was I thinking?  Why would I do that?  How did I manage to get out of that?  I know that hindsight is 20/20 and it is so much easier to say "I shouldn't have done that" than it is to say "I am not going to do that."  Everyone has had moments where they get caught up in the moment and just go with the flow.  Then BOOM the next thing you know you are looking at consequences of a poor choice.  It happens to everyone! 

Unless you find yourself on a game show or in a life or death situation, there is always some time to think before making a decision.  Always try to answer the following questions:

1. Does this activity or plan please God or sadden him?
     We know that we are all saved by God's grace, but is what you are planning do going to cheapen that grace?

2. Does this activity or plan honor God, or is it something to draw attention to yourself?
    We know that we are supposed to put others before ourselves, so is this all about you?

3. Does this activity or plan please your parents or grieve them?
    Really think about what would happen if your parents knew you were going to go through with this plan.  Would you be in trouble?

4. Does this activity or plan show that you love God or that you love the world?
    As Christians we should be living our beliefs not just saying them. 

Keeping Christ in the center of all our lives is the goal.  No one is perfect and everyone will make mistakes, just slow down and think before you decide what to do.  Remember Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Dueces ~Jennifer