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 Post subject: How would you encorage young people...
PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 2:50 pm 
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to walk in the ways of the Lord and not succumb to the world's philosophies of immoral behaviors? I'm talking about Christian kids that have not learned to spend time regularly in the Word or in prayer. Young people that believe it is "normal" to have "relations" with a date, experiment with drugs and/or talk trashy.

I'd like to be armed with scripture that speaks to these things. Verses like 1 Corinthians 6:18- Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Do you know verses that have spoken to you or that remind you to LIVE holy and separate from the world?


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 Post subject: Re: How would you encorage young people...
PostPosted: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:16 am 
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Sis wrote:
to walk in the ways of the Lord and not succumb to the world's philosophies of immoral behaviors? I'm talking about Christian kids that have not learned to spend time regularly in the Word or in prayer. Young people that believe it is "normal" to have "relations" with a date, experiment with drugs and/or talk trashy.

I'd like to be armed with scripture that speaks to these things. Verses like 1 Corinthians 6:18- Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.

Do you know verses that have spoken to you or that remind you to LIVE holy and separate from the world?


I'm not sure at what age group you are classifying "young people?" 14 year's old? 19? To be honest, if they have not been raised with scriptures in their daily lives, then starting to "give them scriptures" about certain things in life is not going to help them, now.


I really loved how my church and knew of other churches that took our young teenagers, whether by gender-only or by mixing both genders, together and having live talks every week through a series as to how important it is to remain pure and to stay away as much as possible from the other "no no's" of this world...drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc. Giving scriptures is "nice and all" and it does give them something to dwell on, but they have to be shown through actions that the adults that surround them are acting in the same "worthy" manner.

Drinking alcohol is not a sin. Drinking too much alcohol and becoming drunk, that is a sin. Smoking a cigarette is not a sin. I have told me kids over and over again that we, as parents, do not do it because of the harmful things it does to your body not to mention the awful smell that lingers. "Taking drugs"...there are legal and illegal drugs. Taking "legal" drugs can actually be beneficial as long as you follow the prescription and do not abuse it. Have S** before your are married is a definite sin but not holding hands or kissing. Talking to kids, young people on a daily basis is the way to go through stories of adults or other kids their age that did abuse alcohol or drugs and look what happened to them. To me, that is a far better approach of showing young people the damage caused by sin.

_________________
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Not your last resort.


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 Post subject: Re: How would you encorage young people...
PostPosted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 6:19 am 
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First and foremost, our relationship with God is about Relationship. If we do not cultivate a Relationship with God, we cannot hope to just get the "benefits" (like avoiding an inconvenient pregnancy or a drug addiction). A bad tree cannot produce good fruit.

If they haven't been raised in the Word/ the Church/ the Faith, what exactly makes them "Christian" ?

That relationship MUST be cultivated to make a healthy, strong young Christian - otherwise you're just looking at the "seed that fell on rocky ground." (without getting into the once Saved always Saved v. Works, v. whatever - the fact is that the fruit demonstrates the type of tree it grows from - no matter what your theory of which one comes first/causes the other)

I wouldn't even START with the superficial "moral" issues - I'd start with relationship, and learning to relate to God both thru the Scriptures & Prayer & Worship & Sacraments and also reading the lives of inspiring Christian role models so that they can experience what it means to be a Christian in a loving Relationship with God - then the moral part becomes a lot easier. Inspiring, encouraging stories go a LONG way IMO. Wanting to be LIKE Gladys Aylward will help someone a lot more than NOT wanting to be like Brittany Spears.

If you can inspire them to read the Scriptures, the Lives of the Saints (or for Protestants, Missionary stories) and attend Worship - that will go further than anything else.

Ideally, it's layer upon layer of cultivation of relationship, for year after year. There's not much you can do in a 1/2 hour meeting once a month in which you offer "don'ts" (from Scripture or other sources)

But, I WOULDN"T say "It's too late" because many inspiring Christians have converted after a life of devastating sin (like St. Mary of Egypt, St. Moses the Black, for instance).

Inspire them. Cultivate good Christian habits & virtues : )

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