If I could go back in time, there are plenty of things I would want my teenage-self to know. But if I could, I’d especially want to go back in time and shine some truth into a few of the lies that I believed as a young person.
Maybe you’re struggling with some of these lies too. If so, this is my invitation to you to experience some truth.
Lie 1: I’m too young to do big things.
The world we live in likes to convince teenagers of a lot of thing–and one of those things is the lie that they’re “too young.” For awhile, I convinced myself that I was too young to serve God in all the ways I wanted to. But I was so wrong.
You are never too young—or even too old—to do big things for the glory of God.
“Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.’ But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am only a youth”; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1:6-8)
Lie 2: My current circumstances will never change.
When I was a teenager I often believed that whatever current circumstance I found myself in were always how things were going to be. It was easy to feel like things weren’t going to change, especially when you’re stuck in the sometimes mundane pieces of life.
But things do change, and they change faster than you could imagine. Keep waiting for Him to come through.
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19)
Lie 3: I’m too different from everyone else, so I’ll never fit in.
Different is one-hundred-percent awesome. You were created uniquely. There is no one else on earth exactly like you, and that is a good thing.
You don’t always need to “fit in” to be loved. You are loved completely just as you are.
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:14)
Lie 4: I’m not good enough.
Christ takes all of your weaknesses and shortcomings and he makes them enough. You don’t have to do it on your own. Your weaknesses in the hands of God are the most beautiful thing you may ever see. Trust me on this one.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, fo rmy power is made perfec tin weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Lie 5: Everyone is thinking badly of me.
If we’re honest, that mistake you made when you tripped in lunch and dropped your food all over the floor? No one is going to remember it in an hour, let alone fifteen minutes.
And if we’re even more honest? It doesn’t matter at all what they think anyway. All that matters in the end is what God thinks.
“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.” (Galatians 1:10)
Lie 6: I’ll never be able to overcome my fears.
Fear is powerful. But my God is more powerful. And when I give my fears and anxieties over to him, that fear has got nothing on my God.
You’re already victorious over those fears in him. Don’t forget that.
“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
Lie 7: My pain will never go away.
Life is hard. That’s no secret, whether you’re thirteen, twenty-three, or eighty-three. And while scars often remain from living in a broken world, we are promised that there are seasons of both joy and sadness. The sky won’t stay dark forever.
The sun always rises again.
“For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)
Lie 8: I’m a teenager, so it’s okay to waste time.
Life goes by a whole lot faster than you think. These years you have as a teenager? They’re honestly going to be gone long before you realize it. Don’t waste them.
“making best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16)
Lie 9: I can tell someone that I love them tomorrow.
When we’re young, we can tend to think that we not only have all the time in the world, but also that the people we love will always be there tomorrow.
We don’t know how long we have someone for. Love them today. And let them know it.
“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
Lie 10: God has forgotten me.
This one…this one is so easily believed by people of all ages. It can be so easy to feel as if God has somehow forgotten us when we experience seasons of life that it seems as if He is not listening to our prayers.
If you don’t hear anything else, hear this: God will never forget you. Of that you can be one hundred percent certain.
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15)
It’s so easy to become tangled up with lies, especially in our teenage years. Yet God calls us to truth, and has given us his Word to cut through these falsehoods, and live victorious lives in Christ.
