One thing I've come to grips with is that being young is not an excuse to sin. It's something that I've know but have always pushed to the back of my mind and pretended it's not there. I always had big plans of turning 18, going to college, and going crazy partying. It was always my one sin that I wanted to justify, thinking, "Oh, I'll go have fun being young and then I'll get my life on track and live like a Christian after college." I thought this way, despite knowing it was wrong, until this summer at Lake Forest Ranch. LFR is the camp that me and my youth group go to every summer up in Macon, Mississippi. It's a very special place, and God's presence is always felt there. This year was different though - through the worship, quiet times, and messages from our speaker Steve Miller, I felt my relationship with God growing, and my want to live my life for Him renewed. See, I have been saved since I was 5 years old, but somewhere along the way, I turned into a 'lukewarm' Christian. Revelation 3:15-16 says: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." This verse scared me silly. I don't want to live my whole life thinking I'm going to Heaven, yet acting any earthly way I desire, only for God to "vomit" me out of His mouth. I don't want to be a lukewarm Christian any longer, just because my excuse of "I'm young." 1 Timothy 4:12 says: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." I believe that when it says "Don't let anyone..." it includes ourselves, and our fellow youth.
Stop using your youth as an excuse to yourself. A 16 year old girl from my town just passed away a few days ago - you never know when your time is to go. As youth we always think 'that couldn't happen to us', and that we have all the time in the world to get our lives on track whenever we decide to. The fact is, that's not the truth. This isn't the only reason, or the main one, to start living your life for Christ, but it is a good one.
Proverbs 8:32-33 talks about being blessed. Jeremiah 1:4-9 talks about not using your youth as an excuse, relying on God, and not being afraid. Matthew 5:17 says: "...I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (That's Jesus talking by the way.) Jesus doesn't want to take anything away from your life, but to bless and fulfill it to the fullest. I'm so glad I've stopped using my youth as an excuse, and have begun to let Jesus consume my life. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galations 2:20)
I'll end this with one last passage:
Titus 2:2-8
Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
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