Newbie In Need Of Help

As a teenager and new Christian, Its hard to comprehend things about Christianity and it gets harder and harder with all these earthly elements I'm exposed too. Some things I don't understand/know how to do are trusting God, hearing the spirit and surrendering your life to God.

How does one do these things? What can a kid my age do for God in this worldly environment? Would love some helpful answers that are very informative.
 
Be different....

God calls us to stand out, to be a 'special treasure' to His own and a 'peculiar people'. When we do things that look, taste, smell, feel just like the world and label it Christianity-it's not really different. When your friends say 'let's go do (some teenage thing we shouldn't-or adult thing for that matter)'; you can always say: "no thank you, that would break my Savior's and my parents heart-I choose not too...'.

As a teenager, you have the gift and opportunity to be a stellar example for those who love Christ. If I could go back and get my head right at 15, I would love too...but that isn't going to happen. I squandered my youth and defiled myself to the point where I am not eligible to be a Pastor according to God's Word. some 25 years later I carry that regret with all the baggage of sin I created for myself because I didn't listen to God.

The Bible is God talking and teaching Christians; before you can really begin to grasp the Bible you need to invite the Holy Spirit in by accepting by faith what Jesus Christ has done for you. He is offering you the gift of eternal life AND saving you us from an eternity separated from the Light of the world. All He asks for in return is your heart-your faith-your trust in Him to the point of obedience.

As a teenager, presumably under your parents roof (authority), you really only have 1 rule: obey. Obey God, obey your parents-love when you don't want too....that is the hardest lesson you will ever have to learn.

As a teen-youth is a gift, you have stamina and energy us older people wish we still had. Do you understand what it means to be 'saved' / "born again"? You have the potential to be a powerhouse-an Ambassador for the God of the Universe.
 
When I was a teenage Christian, there were some things that helped that I'll get into, but I'm also going to touch briefly on things that I wish I knew then that I know now.

What I did that helped:

1. Get involved with a youth group. It doesn't matter if it's from your church or not--you need to build good relationships with other teens who share your belief. It's not only a good support, but it's a very necessary one.

2. Get involved in a legitimate Bible study. Studying the Bible on my own was well and good, but it was much easier, much more fluent, and far easier to understand and get drawn in when I did it with other people. And when doing it, ask questions--even play Devil's advocate. It's important to get to the bottom of everything you belief in.

3. I spoke with my youth leaders/bible study leaders. I expressed my concerns with my faith, how I could hang onto it, etc. Sounds simple, but a lot of the time we thing "I don't want to burden them" or "it's probably not a big deal." You're not burdening them and it is a big deal. They're there for that reason, so take advantage of that.


Things I wish I knew as a teen:

1. Religious and spiritual intellect. My youth group, bible study, and even church did a great job in diving into the scriptures, what God calls for us to do, etc. One thing that they seemed to never do unfortunately was emphasize on the things all Christians NEED to know, such as why Atheism is illogical and wrong, why the world is OBJECTIVE even though much of the world likes to claim it is SUBJECTIVE, why we have free will despite the fact that it is God's will for us all to find salvation (and not sunday school answers like "because he wants us to love him"). Don't treat the faith as "it's true to me, but it's really your thing to believe something else." Indeed we all have freedom to worship and believe as we wish, that doesn't mean God and his teachings are now only "kinda' true." Be a legitimate truth seeker. Learn what is true and what isn't. When you get older, it's going to get right in your face and you're going to eventually say "Enough is enough...what is true, what is false, and where do I stand?" Basically, no more BS (pardon me).

2. You can't please everyone. As a teen, I was very concerned with making sure I was well-liked and didn't offend people. Problem is I did it to a point where I missed opportunities to practice what I believed. It made me a hypocrite. Of course we are called to love everyone, but getting quiet about our religion and faith, especially at times where we need to speak up, is in no way loving anyone. Not only will people have a tough time respecting you when you claim to be a Christian but don't act on it when it counts, but they will also not respect the faith--and who could blame them? Christ said in John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you." It goes with the territory, but the rewards of sticking to the truth is worth it.

3. The anti-religion/anti-christian rhetoric masked in "logic" is a sham. By no means am I saying this out of annoyance or anger, but the truth is that the rhetoric is absurd. For instance, a lot of people discredit Christianity and God because of the hypocrisies of Christians. It's fair to ask "why?" but to throw everything out the window merely because of the misbehaviors of others is also not facing the truth, but rather saying "I don't like these people, so I guess God isn't real and Christianity is a false premise." Or even when they say "I haven't heard any good arguments for it, therefore it must not be real." This is called 'Argumentum ad Ignorantium' (an argument from ignorance). Because they didn't get a good answer, they feel the other side must be right, but that doesn't answer the question. If I asked an Atheist, "How can God not be real?" and he responded "Because bad things happen to good people," well, he gave a terrible answer, but his terrible answer didn't prove why he's wrong. Don't let them intimidate you into backing away from God, not even a little bit.

4. PRAY EVERY DAY! Not just before meals. I'm deadly serious. Wake up in the morning and pray. Get dressed and pray. Go to school and pray. Pray after classes, pray between classes, pray at work, pray going home, pray before going to sleep, wake up and do it all again. Pray for you, pray for your family, pray for your enemies, pray for everyone and for every reason. Pray that you will grow to know Him more, that everyone will, and pray for comfort an help, and when doing all of this, also pray in worship and thankfulness. You will grow to know Him much more the more time you spend with Him.

5. Just because a fellow Christian does something doesn't make it OK. As a teen, I'd see/hear my Christian friends (or even mentors) saying something, doing something, acting a certain way, and I fell into this trap of "Well if they're Christians, they're infallible, therefore it's OK to do/say such and such." Whaaaa? Don't be afraid to be that guy that says, "This seems wrong." Your friends/mentors who should be setting a good example will notice that someone in the group is standing up for the faith and putting his foot down. Don't wait for someone else to be that person.


This was all I could think of right now. I hope this at least shed a light on some of your concerns. Your concerns aren't much different from most Christian teens. This happens all the time. I remember going to a youth group when I was 15, and the youth pastor was so preoccupied with trying to come off as cool and relevant to us kids that he seemed to forget what we needed to know at that age. I legitimately think the youth pastor cared for us and wanted to help us, but a few of my friends and I were so fed up with it that we left. We felt like we were being patronized as teens and that we weren't being taken seriously. Ever see that terrible movie "Saved"? It was kind of like that. Your concerns are serious. They regard your soul and your life. The good news is you're asking questions and trying to get to it.

Feel free to ask me any questions if you have any,
and God bless you.
 
As a teenager and new Christian, Its hard to comprehend things about Christianity and it gets harder and harder with all these earthly elements I'm exposed too. Some things I don't understand/know how to do are trusting God, hearing the spirit and surrendering your life to God.

How does one do these things? What can a kid my age do for God in this worldly environment? Would love some helpful answers that are very informative.

My 1st thought is like the country song a few years ago......"Looking for love in all the wrong places". A web site, even a Christian can be like a river in South America.........full of Pirahinas. (Fish that eat you)

The best and first thing you need to do is GO TO CHURCH!

Find a local church and visit it. Go to several. The Holy Spirit will let you know when you are in the right place.

Then talk to the pastor of that church. He is there for a reason and he can help you more than anyone else in what you are looking for. He can and will give you Godly advice and instructions in the fundamentals of the faith.

God be with you man and may He keep you in the palm of His hand.
 
Back
Top