We have all needed a second chance or a “do over” when it comes to our relationships. Sometimes, that has meant we needed to walk away and sometimes it meant the relationship has walked away from us and we need to reset who we are.
Share with your teenager a time when you needed to push the “reset” button and get a fresh perspective on a particular relationship or maybe even on yourself.
Geoffrey Canada says, “We always give (our kids) the message of salvation and forgiveness with our chastisements.”
How can you do this when your teen struggles through a particular relationship? If your teenager has already learned some hard lessons, how did you handle it? Looking back, would you have handled it differently?
In order to Widen the Circle, we need to point our teens towards those people who can help them come to a healthy self-image and help them find their place in a rich community.
Who are those people in your student’s life who won’t give up on them and who can help them experience forgiveness and encourage them in growth? (Think peers, but also think of other adults too.)
Here is a summary of this week's Sunday School lesson:
Though it is a message we may hear more subtly as adults, as teenagers it is a lot more loud and clear: Single is second rate. If you really want to matter, if you really want to be someone, then the key is to be in a relationship. Not exactly a great message—and not exactly accurate either. What if, when it comes to relationships, we are putting the emphasis on the wrong thing? What if the point isn’t our relationship status at all? What if in our attempt to fit into the culture we are compromising the things that matter the most? And what if God has something different, something better in mind? Relationships may feel like the whole world—but what if God is calling our attention to a different way of living?
It may be out of left field. It may not be the way you've ever thought. Consider it.
Jordan
“He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge.” Proverbs 14:26b
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