At first I was angry, mamma bear angry.  How dare those young people with such questionable morals be entrusted with these kids…my kid!  But as I prayed, that anger turned to sadness, and it’s a broken heart that drives me to pen these words today.  You see, I don’t want to be the one who just complains and gossips and despairs.  I want to be part of the solution.  And the only solution to these problems is God Himself…not our cleverness, our ingenuity, our threats, but our prayers!  So I have prayed, and I invite you to pray with me.  And to those floundering youth I want to say…

I have been praying for you this week.  You have been entrusted with a precious gift – the spiritual oversight and care of little children.  I pray you reverence that responsibility as you ought to and that you have sensed something of God working through you.  Because our God is sovereign, of that I am convinced.  And He can use us and work through us, despite ourselves.

First you need to know that these words come from a mother’s heart and are delivered in sisterly love to you.  I know that your lifestyle choices and habits have not been centred on following Christ as of late, and through prayer I feel obligated to urge you in the choice you have to make.  You can continue to flirt with the devil, thinking it’s all harmless enough and you’ll have plenty of time to grow up and grow wise later.  But hear me when I say, these years are not disposable!  They are foundational!  Thinking you are in control, simply dabbling at your own discretion, means you have been duped!  Don’t let the devil fool you into thinking that choosing to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season (because scripture tells us they don’t last long!) will not have lifelong consequences for you to deal with.  I urge you to make decisions and choices right now that will lay a better foundation for the rest of your life.  I pray that God will open your eyes to the life and joy and peace of His ways and that you’ll have the wisdom to live your life in light of eternity.

 
Being a Christian is not about conforming outwardly while indulging inwardly a heart that is in love with sin.  Righteousness is not the result of asking, “How far can I go with this?  What can I get away with?  Where is that line that I can’t cross…but I’ll dance around it and above it?”  It doesn’t work that way.  That way of thinking puts all the focus on the sin that you’re so desperate for.  It reveals a heart that is craving anything but Christ.  

Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.  So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.  But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.  (Romans 8:5-6 NLT)

There’s that choice again.  Death or life and peace.  And don’t be deceived into thinking you can put that decision off.  Procrastination, in this case, is choosing death and saying “no” to the Spirit of Christ.  Jesus wants to capture the affections at the core of your being and transform you from the inside out.  The good news is that it’s His work, not yours.  Your part is simply that of surrender.

The choice may be simple, but I know it is not easy.  Things in life that are worth it seldom are!  But it’s not just worth it in the long run, years from now…it’s worth it right now!  The joy and peace and satisfaction and love found in Him is like nothing you’ll find at the end of a joint or the bottom of a bottle.  Yes, He requires ALL of you in total surrender.  But the best part?  You get ALL OF HIM!  Oh, I pray you will see the beauty, the love, the grace, the protection, the purpose, the joy, the exhilaration of a life lived in communion with our Saviour!  There is no one and nothing so beautiful or tender or true!

The pain, the shame, the confusion you fight and perhaps only allow yourself to feel in your quietest moments alone can’t be swallowed by sin.  Sinful choices will only multiply them.  Only Jesus is big enough, powerful enough, loving enough to deal with all our junk completely and even turn it into something beautiful.  I am praying that you will be desperate for Him and escape the clutches of an enemy that is out to destroy you — mind, body, and soul — while you can.  Draw close to Jesus, listen with all your heart, and fall in love with Him who gave His all for love of you!