Identity in Christ is a vital lesson for preteens. Read on to learn four ways we can help these kids see and understand their identity in Christ through God’s Word.
My son was 11 when he needed to choose his first pair of glasses. I ordered them from a company that encourages you to choose frames based on a social media vote. After being unsatisfied with any of our choices, we drove to their small pop-up store in Chicago.
The staff made my son feel like the coolest kid on earth. They gave input on what frames would best fit his face. Then they got other customers to take part in an impromptu live vote for the best frames.
After the public had spoken and the frames were chosen, they took his picture and sent us on our way, applauding his choice. The smile on my son’s face said it all. This group of people approved of him, and in one encounter they had shaped his identity and confidence.
This may seem like a story of one preteen choosing a pair of glasses. But it mirrors the experience of so many preteens as they seek to find their identity in our culture.
This group has known nothing other than living life in the light of social media. They receive instant responses from smartphones at all times. And they multitask using multiple devices at once to fit an extra two hours of screen time into a day.
Seeking Validation From Others
Just as my son chose his glasses, this generation seeks validation from outside themselves. This is understandable, as they have watched their parents post their every move on Facebook and obsess over how many “likes” appear.
Their widening circles of influence have come at the expense of a certain authenticity of relationships. While these kids rely on an “external brain” (via the internet they literally carry in their pockets), they can find information from myriad sources, some familiar and some completely foreign. There is no changing the need to rely on their “internal heart” and the need to have God, their very source of life, be the loudest voice in their lives.
The good news—the really good news—is that we can use God’s Word to shape the identity of preteens. When we help them shift their focus from what the many say about them to what the One—their heavenly Father—thinks about them, we shape their identity in truth and love.
4 Ways To Help Preteens See Their Identity in Christ
Here are four ways to help preteens see and understand their identity in Christ through God’s Word.
1. Give them the reliable source.
Preteens are literal thinkers, which is one danger of having the internet as an external brain. Distinguishing between truth and fiction is more about the source of the information than the information itself.
If a source has given reliable information in the past, a preteen is likely to see any information from that source as truth. And if a source gave information that was false, the source (in the preteen’s mind) is unreliable and false.
This can work in our favor when we teach God’s Word. If we teach the Bible in a way that leaves no doubt as to its validity, kids will return to it as their primary source of information and identity.
2. Help kids see their world through God’s Word.
After we establish God’s Word as a reliable source, then we’ve given preteens an entire book of truths about the Creator of the universe. At this age, kids define themselves by the brands and social issues they identify with. If they have established truths about God, they can use those as a framework for how they see the world.
While preteens may be individualistic in their thinking, they live in a culturally diverse world. So use God’s Word for the answers to social justice issues. Point out specific verses where God intervenes on behalf of the weak or establishes His promise to the humble and faithful.
Because of kids’ awareness of multicultural issues, evoking passion about loving God and loving people—and considering ways to put that faith into action—will turn these kids’ hearts toward God and His Word.
