Are you changing your world – or is your world changing you?
A call for Christian youth to give everything to Jesus, the ultimate world changer.
Changing a world is a big job. So big, you might say, “Why bother?”
Here’s why. There’s one thing (besides death) that is absolutely certain in life. You will either be a part of changing the world around you – or the world around you will change you. It will slowly but surely seep into the pores of your skin and before you know it, you’ll look like everyone else, you’ll talk like everyone else, you’ll think like everyone else. You will lose sight of the person that God created you to be. You will lose YOU!
“Ok, so I don’t want to lose ME. I want to make a difference. Where do I start?”
The Bible gives us 4 things we can do…
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. – Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)
1. Give all of you to God
Remember, God is the one who made you, so he is also the one who knows what he wants you to become. You can’t be all that he wants you to be if you only let him have a piece of you.
2. Say no to what the world tells you to be
The world is telling you how to live 24/7 – in what you watch, in what you listen to, in what you read. If you never say NO to the world, it will make you into its image, not God’s. It may not always be easy, but it wasn’t easy for Jesus either. Remember, He gave His life for you.
3. Say yes to what God tells you to be
God has given His Holy Spirit to live inside each of his children and he will take the lives of those who say yes to him and make them into the people that he always intended them. But we have to cooperate with Him. While God has all the power in the world, He never forces us to do anything (though he sometimes makes life really uncomfortable to help us change!)
4. Think like God, not the world
We do that by learning what God thinks, and He has told us a whole lot about that in the Bible. So we have to read and study God’s Word and allow ourselves to be taught by those who know His Word better than we do.
The Bible also tells us that hanging with the wrong crowd will ALWAYS get us into a whole lot of trouble
Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character. – 1 Corinthians 15:33 (NIV).
It doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends with those who don’t know God. It just means that everyone will be influenced by the company they keep. Hanging with those who think like God thinks will help you, while constantly surrounding yourself with those who think like the world can really make it difficult for you to be who God created you to be. Surround yourself with people who think like God thinks.
And remember, changing a world is not a “one-person job”, and God never intended for you to tackle it all by yourself. He placed that load squarely on His son’s shoulders. Jesus is the master world-changer and calls all of his brothers and sisters to join him in bringing light into dark places and changing the world for His glory. It’s a team effort.
You can make a difference. You, along with millions of other young people who are committed to THE world-changer, Jesus, can truly change the world. If not you, who will? You must choose. Every day of your life, all you have to do is say YES to Jesus and NO to the world.
Thousands of young people just like you from all around the world will be gathering in person, online, and in their own communities for Jesus Global Youth Day, August 8-10, 2019 to be held in Manila, Philippines. It will be massive. To find out more, visit Jesus Global Youth Day.
Ron Luce has dedicated his life to reaching, training and mobilizing young people for Christ. In 2016 he launched Generation Next to assist global leaders in engaging youth for the cause of Christ.
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