Youth And Children Month

Creating Better Relationships Through Biblical Principles

Last month, the leadership for Youth and Children Becoming Ministry changed from Rev. Kim Garner to Ladeedra McCaulley. We thank God for Rev. Garner’s tenure as the ministry leader. We pray God will bless her with great success as she transitions to leading the Women of W.O.R.T.H. Becoming Ministry.

Ladeedra has embraced the mantel and is diligently working to move the Youth and Children Becoming Ministry forward with a fresh vision and achievable goals. Prayerfully, this will guide the ministry in helping the youth and children grow in their relationship with Christ (2 Pet. 2:2-3; 3:18). In collaborating with Ladeedra to develop the monthly theme, we came up with Romans 12:2, Matthew 7:12, Proverbs 15:31-33, and 2 Corinthians 5:17 and a series title of “Creating Better Relationships Through Biblical Principles.”

I am excited about preaching through this sermon series as it will address some vital topics related to youth and children. Peer pressure, bullying, criticism (positive and negative), and identity crisis are the chosen topics. This is not an exhaustive list of issues confronting our youth today, but it is a start.

I will celebrate my 54th birthday on August 19, 2024. Although I am many years removed from my preteen and teenage years, I still remember my struggles to overcome peer pressure, bullying, criticism (positive and negative), and identity crisis. I am hopeful that in addressing these topics through biblical principles we can help promote better awareness and understanding of how to confront and overcome these challenges faced by many young people.

Peer Pressure

I would love to testify that I have never yielded to peer pressure; however, before I learned how to live each day pleasing the Lord (Col. 1:10), I surrendered to peer pressure and people pleasing behavior. Today, I allow my life to be shaped from the inside out versus the outside in. As I yield my life to the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18), He shapes and molds my life using the Word of God to rearrange my inner perspective so that it aligns with God’s divine standards (1 John 2:27).

Bullying

I have experienced bullying, and it was not pleasant. When I was in school and someone mentioned bullying, I knew they were talking about a potentially unpleasant, humiliating, and/or demoralizing face-to-face encounter. Today, there is an additional type of bullying called cyberbullying. On the Stopbullying.gov website, one can read the following:

Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices like cell phones, computers, and tablets. Cyberbullying can occur through SMS, text, apps, online social media, forums, or gaming, where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about someone else, causing embarrassment or humiliation. Some cyberbullying crosses the line into unlawful or criminal behavior.

In a 2023 journal article entitled Cyberbullying and Adolescent Suicide, researchers stated that bullying at school and online raises the chance of suicidal thoughts and attempts. Both types of bullying are unquestionably risk factors for suicide. Even though bullying and cyberbullying may not be the direct cause of adolescent suicide, there is a strong correlation between them. The 21st century church should proactively increase awareness concerning bullying, offer encouragement and support for its victims, and promote healthier, biblically-grounded relational interactions (Mark 9:50; John 6:43).

Criticism

In the early years of my life, I didn’t handle criticism well. I carried this issue into adulthood until I learned to welcome positive and negative criticism. One of our goals should be to help young people learn how to embrace and utilize positive and negative criticism. It is not a matter of whether a young person will be criticized. It is a matter of when. Thus, we can help prepare our youth and children to be ready for expected and unexpected criticism that may not come packaged as they expect. However, biblical principles and skills can teach them to unwrap criticism and use it for progress. We should encourage young people to view criticism through a biblical lens that provides an above-the-sun perspective (Prov. 15:31; 27:5-6).

Identity

The Christian church must prioritize teaching young believers to know their identity in Christ and not to allow others to define them. By knowing who they are in the eyes of Christ, they can be equipped to handle the challenges of building better relationships. We must do our best to expose young believers to principles grounded in the Word of God. In his classic text Conformed to His Image, Kenneth Boa states, “Our parents, friends, associates, and society give us one set of impressions, and the extent we expose ourselves to Scripture, we discover a different picture.” Exposing young people to the Scriptures can help them develop a different perspective that can shape their priorities and what they do in practice.

Hopefully, young Christians will practice living the Christian life in a way that resists peer pressure, overcomes bullying, accepts positive and negative criticism, and embraces a God-given and biblically-based identity. Let’s do our part to help them create better relationships by inviting them to focus on God’s Word, which is powerful enough to change and transform all ages for His glory (1 Cor. 10:31).

Please pray that God will bless us through the preaching series “Creating Better Relationships Through Biblical Principles” to help many young people create and maintain better relationships that will endure 21st century relational challenges relevant to young Christians.