The Keys to Youth

Introduction

• We have a crisis in the church, and a crisis in the home - our youth are not accepting of the home, nor are they accepting of the church (generally)
• It's not their fault! The world is changing very quickly, many of us are coming from Egypt (different culture), we have our own problems and they're overstressed... they just want to be like the rest of the world... it's much easier!
• At the same time, their conscience ails them because their parents say something different, the church says something different - and they love us. But they're torn!
• Torn between two cultures; torn between consciences; torn between the code of the Church and the code of the World
• What's strange is that St John the Beloved - this elder - in the Catholic Epistle, teaches us how to deal with the youth... we all deal with youth (our kids, our grandkids, in our service, etc)
• "I have written to you, young men,
  Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
  And you have overcome the wicked one." (1 John 2:14)

Continuous Encouragement

• "Because you are strong"
  • From 10 years old through 30 years old, the youth need encouragement
  • St John knows that the youth face temptations, fall into sin, feel conflicted in many areas of their life, and many of them are NOT strong... but when you tell a youth "You are strong" - "I trust you" - "I need you" - "You are stronger than me" - he will do the best thing
• Beware of too much criticism
  • Sometimes, because the youth make so many mistakes, we focus on the mistakes and have conflicts with them. And the mistakes keep growing and we keep conflicting even more.
  • St John didn't tell them "your hair is long" or "your parents are bad" or "you're late" - but he told them "you are strong"
• Encourage by mentioning real qualities
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