Lie #3 God Only Uses the Finished Product
or I’ll help out when I’m older.
I never cease to be amazed at some of the excuses that I hear from teens as to why they aren’t involved in ministry. Why they aren’t using their God given gifts and talents to strengthen and build up the kingdom of God. By far, the most popular excuse I hear is that there are things they need to get straight with God first, and then they’ll be ready. I can tell you that not one of the many teens from whose mouth I heard those words has had the kind of significant impact on our ministry that they could have with the way God has gifted them.
Teens, Satan would love to convince you that until your life is perfect, you are of no use to God. If that were the case, no one would be in ministry; churches would close down one after another all across the world. The beauty of what our God did for us lies in the fact that while we were yet sinners, He died for us and while we are yet sinners, imperfect, incomplete, unreliable, He uses us. How awesome is that.
So many teens waste their high school and college years and miss the opportunity to serve God because they fall for this lie. God’s commands and God’s plans do not have an age limit. Using your youth as an excuse and waiting for God to perfect you will keep you from ever getting the work done that God has for you during this time.
God will finish the work He has begun in you but it takes each bump, it takes each setback and learning how to minister and give to others while God is working in you and teaching you. A teenager who is willing to allow God to use them can change the world. Don’t wait another minute before you let God work. God loves to use young people. Mary, was willing to let God use her, despite public shame, to bring His Son into the world. David stood up for His God and defeated Goliath when none of the adults were willing to fight. Josiah, the boy king, turned God’s people back to Him and brought His law back to Jerusalem, when it would have been easier just to maintain the status quo. Joseph did not give into temptation even though it meant time in jail and God used that time to prepare Him to be second in command over all of Egypt.
Age is never an excuse to put your relationship with God on hold.
God is calling you to be the examples. He wants you to be the ones who turn things around so that some of us adults who are stuck and set in our ways can see the Hand of God working in your lives and follow your lead and turn our world back towards the God who made it. You can’t do this if you wait until everything’s perfect before you start.
Teens, Graduates. Today we send you out as representatives of your families and of this ministry and of Jesus Christ Himself. You have been taught, you have been equipped and you now have a choice. You can stand up and change your world or you can sit down and let the world change you.
or I’ll help out when I’m older.
I never cease to be amazed at some of the excuses that I hear from teens as to why they aren’t involved in ministry. Why they aren’t using their God given gifts and talents to strengthen and build up the kingdom of God. By far, the most popular excuse I hear is that there are things they need to get straight with God first, and then they’ll be ready. I can tell you that not one of the many teens from whose mouth I heard those words has had the kind of significant impact on our ministry that they could have with the way God has gifted them.
Teens, Satan would love to convince you that until your life is perfect, you are of no use to God. If that were the case, no one would be in ministry; churches would close down one after another all across the world. The beauty of what our God did for us lies in the fact that while we were yet sinners, He died for us and while we are yet sinners, imperfect, incomplete, unreliable, He uses us. How awesome is that.
So many teens waste their high school and college years and miss the opportunity to serve God because they fall for this lie. God’s commands and God’s plans do not have an age limit. Using your youth as an excuse and waiting for God to perfect you will keep you from ever getting the work done that God has for you during this time.
God will finish the work He has begun in you but it takes each bump, it takes each setback and learning how to minister and give to others while God is working in you and teaching you. A teenager who is willing to allow God to use them can change the world. Don’t wait another minute before you let God work. God loves to use young people. Mary, was willing to let God use her, despite public shame, to bring His Son into the world. David stood up for His God and defeated Goliath when none of the adults were willing to fight. Josiah, the boy king, turned God’s people back to Him and brought His law back to Jerusalem, when it would have been easier just to maintain the status quo. Joseph did not give into temptation even though it meant time in jail and God used that time to prepare Him to be second in command over all of Egypt.
Age is never an excuse to put your relationship with God on hold.
God is calling you to be the examples. He wants you to be the ones who turn things around so that some of us adults who are stuck and set in our ways can see the Hand of God working in your lives and follow your lead and turn our world back towards the God who made it. You can’t do this if you wait until everything’s perfect before you start.
Teens, Graduates. Today we send you out as representatives of your families and of this ministry and of Jesus Christ Himself. You have been taught, you have been equipped and you now have a choice. You can stand up and change your world or you can sit down and let the world change you.
