Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds (1 Tim. 6:18).
C.S. Lewis once wrote: “We never know how bad we are until we try to be good.” Indeed—what an insight. Doing good—yes, being good—is not easy. In fact, Jesus once said, “No one is good but God.”
Yet, we are commanded to do good—to be rich in good deeds.
Teaching teenagers is tough business these days, and helping teenagers to do good at times can seem to be an impossible task.
Yet, as my wife (a middle-school principal) reminds me often: Most teenagers are good kids who have a wealth of talents and gifts. Teenagers do good things every day: helping friends, encouraging team mates, solving problems, troubleshooting, obeying their parents, working in missions. You name it, teenagers can do it.
As youth leaders, one of our primary tasks is to give teenagers opportunities to do good. We can encourage teens to be rich in good deeds. But how?
Try enlisting the teenagers themselves to create a list of projects they would like to see accomplished. Invite a team of teenagers to take up an effort to improve your church or community in some profound way. Many teenagers aspire to good works today such as recycling efforts, food pantry collections andsersving in soup kitchens. Teenagers are hands-on, and the good they can do is immense.
Don’t neglect to do the good work of inviting the good work.
