Last night I was a guest speaker at a camp with some amazing middle schoolers and their leaders. I haven't spoken anywhere other than my own church in awhile and I miss it.
That is my passion. If I could just quit everything and travel the world, sharing the love of Jesus with this generation, I could die happy and fulfilled. The young people of today feel like they aren't being heard or that no one cares and often times, it is true. They don't have anyone that treats them like they are anything more than a burden. A lot (keep in mind I am not saying all) of society wants to push them into a corner and forget about them until they are old enough to contribute.
Even the church often uses the phrase "they are the church of tomorrow". False! They ARE the church! These young people are so full of potential. They have the same spirit dwelling inside of them that we have in us. God is no respecter of persons. He can use a 9 year old just as much as he can use a 40 year old. It is a matter of willingness and the state of the heart.
Youth are so hungry. They are seeking whatever it takes to fill the emptiness that drills deep inside of them, whether it be drugs, sex, alcohol, self mutilation or sexual identity crisis. They are wanting so desperately to feel something, anything that they don't realize that what they have been longing for all along was the love of a heavenly Father.
If we don't show them that they are valued, loved and have purpose....society will give them a reason to believe that they aren't. When I speak, whether at my own church or at someone else's, I see the same pain and hurt buried deep inside. When God gives me a message to deliver, it is so amazing to see freedom hover over the young people and a sense of hope replace the hurt in their eyes. THAT is what makes it all worth it.
Give them a chance.....give them a ear when they want to talk....give them a shoulder when they want to cry.....give them hope when they feel hopeless.
That is what being Christ like is all about.
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