Good afternoon Parents! We continued this week with the theme of Selfie and the idea of being created in Gods image. Take a bit to watch the lesson from this week here and follow along with the slides here. You may be slightly confused by the video and think "who is this strange white guy and where is Sweh?" But have no fear, for those of you that dont know, that is my intern Ryan. The idea of self image is crucial to teens lives but we often distort it. To often we try and emulate people to simply have them like us, when our God who loves us is the only opinion that truly matters!
Thursday:
Sit down with your teen and discuss why we all seek
validation from friends. Briefly revisit the idea of the profile and what your
teen is trying to fit into or be what they are presenting to everyone on their
profile. Try and help them pin point what they are doing to seek validation
from others and whether or not this is good. Talk about healthy ways of being
validated such as doing their best in school (this does not mean they will do
well in every subject), finishing well in sports (no matter if they win or
lose), or serving in church. Remember to emphasize that we do not do these
things for people to like us, rather we do them to glorify God.
Prayer Guide: Pray for your teen that they would not
be so concerned with getting people to like them and that they would focus on
solidifying their relationship with Christ.
Friday:
The culture in which our teens are growing up today is very
much centered around ourselves. We are told continually throughout each day to
do what makes us happy, to live for ourselves, to get what we deserve. With all
of these bombardments we must have an outlet to share these things. Social
media today is a great tool but how often do we use it socialize? While there
is nothing wrong with posting statuses or pictures, discuss the idea of posting
for the purpose of self promotion. Discuss ways of taking the focus off of
ourselves and focusing it on Christ. As set up for tomorrow briefly revisit the
celebrities that your teen is seeking to emulate. Ask them to think more about
why they want to emulate them for tomorrow.
Prayer Guide:
Spend time praying with your teen about how they can self
promote less and instead represent Christ. Pray specifically that they would be
an example to their friends in this area. Pray for your teen that they would
not feel the pressure from society to be something they are not.
Saturday:
Hopefully your teen is ready to talk about why they are
trying to emulate certain celebrities or friends. Move through this with a
couple different questions such as: What are you doing currently to emulate
them, What qualities do they have that you want, Is this celebrity really a
good example to follow? After you have discussed these questions take the
conversation to the subject of approval and whos they are looking for. The
reason that we do certain things is to gain the approval of others because we
often think that this approval will somehow make us happier or better off. Galatians
1:10 says “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying
to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant
of Christ” When we are constantly seeking the approval of our friends we ignore
what Christ has called us to do. Talk through ways that your teen might be
seeking unhealthy approval from piers.
Prayer Guide:
Pray with your teen about not being so concerned about
having the approval of others and rather seeking the approval of Christ. Pray
they would seek what the Lord desires for their life and that they would become
the man or women that God has planned for them to be.
Sunday:
Start by sharing with your teen times that perhaps you
compromised in order to gain the approval of others. I encourage you to be
honest with your teens, they often forget that you were their age once and made
the same kinds of mistakes. Share with them from your experience how detrimental it can be to ones
self to ones self when we allow others to make our choices for us. Talk about
how superficial popularity is never worth life long consequences.
Prayer Guide:
Pray for wisdom for your teens. Pray that they would stand
strong in their faith and their morals and that they would not be swayed or moved from what they
know to be right just because other people are pressuring them to do so.
Monday:
Take your Bible and turn to Psalm 139:13-16. After reading
this discuss the idea of what it means to be uniquely and intricately created.
The passage says we are fearfully and wonderfully made, with that in mind move
the conversation towards the idea that we were created with purpose and intent.
Remind your and yourself that this intentional creation shows love and care
from our Heavenly Father.
Prayer Guide:
Pray with your teen that they could not seek the approval of
others so much and that they would realized that their Father loves them and
that is all that matters!
Tuesday:
Finish this week by opening back up to Psalm 139 and
focusing only on verse 15 and 16. Discuss why it is so important to our faith
that we know that we were specially created. If we simply go the route of
saying that scientific genetics are always predictable and your child looks
like you because that’s how things work, we strip God of His power and deny the
fact that He carefully and lovingly knit us all together. The end of verse 16
says that all of our days were numbered before there was yet one, Converse with
your teen about what this means for their life. Does God have a plan for them?
Yes! Get them thinking now about what this might be and how the Lord desires to
use their life for His glory and their good.
Prayer Guide:
Pray for your teens future today. Pray with them that they
would want to serve Christ and would do whatever He may call them to in life.
Wednesday:
TAKE YOUR KIDS TO CHURCH!!! Don’t just let them sit around
and complain later about being bored. Invest in their spiritual life and get
them plugged in tonight!
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