4. Students’ obedience means they desire to follow Jesus.
Kids yearn to participate in Jesus’ Kingdom work here on earth. You know students get it when they say: “I love Jesus Christ, who directs my life. And that means I’m going to love Him and love and serve others.”
The problem with Christian students who say, “I can’t stop sinning” is that they only know Jesus. They haven’t trusted, obeyed, and followed him yet. More than likely, they haven’t had an opportunity to fully trust Jesus with their baggage. These kids haven’t invited Jesus into their messes. Instead, they have compartmentalized their dual lifestyle of faith and sin.
Somehow, these kids believe that the Gospel puts weight on their shoulders rather than removing it. That’s why the goal of youth ministry is to get students walking authentically with Jesus. Youth ministers do our job when we cultivate environments that encourage full reliance on Jesus.
How can our youth programs encourage trust in Jesus? How will you respond to a teenager who tells you, “I can’t stop sinning”?
This article originally appeared at Youth Ministry Test Pilot.
