by Brandy Webb

Tyler CGI held their first teen dance, in probably many, many years, Saturday night. We have three lovely teen girls that worked hard to put their idea together, and I have to say I was thoroughly impressed. It turned out awesome. It also made me realize how important it is for us adults to invest in our children by giving them outlets to have safe fun.

We may not want to admit it, but we are in a war right now. We are in a “war” for our children. This world wants them, and the truth is, whoever invests the more time and energy will be the winner.

As a parent, I understand investing time and energy for my children, but not all of us are parents. Truth be told, since we are a body, we all need to make sure that time and energy is invested in our youth. In fact, it helps us parents when others do assist us in raising our children in the ways that they should go (Proverbs 22:6). I had two people at the dance that do not have children but were willing to assist and help to create a fun time for our youth. This is what a body does; it helps other members of the body, and our youth are part of the body.

The school that I teach at has a saying:  “The next generation belongs to our children.” I do believe we all want the next generation to be blessed by God. We want there to always be a remnant. In order for this to happen, we have a job to do. We have to follow Moses’ instruction by making sure that we diligently teach God’s Word to our children all the time (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). We need to invest time that also shows God’s love, the joy of following God, that you can have fun and still be a Christian. We have to combat the world’s lies and temptations with truth and light.

We also have to explain that being a Christian isn’t easy either, and they will face all kinds of various trials. However, it is possible to stay firm in our faith, “knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced” by other Christians throughout the world (1 Peter 5:9). Yet, it is just temporary suffering because “the God of all grace, who has called [us] to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish” us (1 Peter 5:10). If they learn this from us through our own testimonies, it may just give them the strength they need to stay strong in a trial.

Children are important to God. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t be here. 

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward (Psalm 127:3).

Our youth need us to be their pillars in Christ. They need us to live lives that prove God’s existence. They need us to show them God’s love, patience, and forgiveness. They need us to be like Paul when he points out to Timothy “you, however, have observed my teaching, my conduct, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, my persecutions, and [my] sufferings” that he endured, yet God rescued him out of them all (2 Timothy 3:10-11). Paul’s life was able to establish a good foundation for Timothy’s faith in God’s Word, knowing that “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instructions, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

I know that this may seem a lot to have learned from one teen dance, but as I watched those teenagers dance, laugh, get along, and have a whole lot of fun, I realized that investing time into our youth is vital. I want to see all of them walk in the path of righteousness and enter the Kingdom of God. This goal, though, requires our time to guide and equip them because, before we know it, they will be the ones teaching the “next generation.”