BEAUTY OF ADOLESCENCE

A Christian adolescent should:
1. Be Discipline
2. Be Humble
3. Be Honest
4. Be Loving
5. Serve
6. Show the sense of integrity i.e. being what he says he is.
7. Be Diligent: - being able to do what one is supposed to do and doing it well without supervision.
8. Have wisdom
9. Be courageous:- take steps of faith not being intimidated
10. Be Morally Excellent
11. Be outwardly good in appearance:- A born again Christian should be different from a denominational Christian in appearance.
Acts 11:26; Hebrews 12:2; Ephesians 2:8

To ensure that your salvation is sure let what you say be so. Let everything around you show that you are a Christian.

NEED FOR CHRISTIAN CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

JOHN 1:19-23.

1. In order not to deceive yourself.
2. We are supposed to be followers of God.

HEBREWS 1:3-5; EPHESIANS 5:1
It is only by following that we show that we are Christians.
3. We are the light of the world.

MATTHEW 5:13-16
As a Christian take your stand no matter what unbelievers say
4. It helps in fulfilling the commission of “Go ye into the world “!

MATTHEW 28:19
5. We are the Epistles to the world.
Epistles: An Epistles is like a written book As a Christian the world is watching you

2 CORINTHIANS 3:1-2
6. It opens us up to God’s blessings JAMES 1:25-26; PROVERBS 10:22
- Your character must be properly developed for you to be blessed by God
7. It ensures continuos fellowship with God. 1 CORINTHIANS 11:31-33

SOME ATTRIBUTES OF GOOD CHARACTER.
I. HONESTY:- You are either honest or dishonest.

Aspect of Dishonesty
It is build on lies

EFFECT OF TELLING LIES
1. It destroys a good relationship.
2. It leads to more lies.
3. It breaks trust

KINDS OF LIES
1. Evil Speaking
2. Deceit
Psalms 107:7
I Peter 3:10
Acts 5:1-11
3. Cheating

II. MORAL EXECLLENCE:- A GOOD WAY OF LIFE
Hebrews 12:2
Moral excellence means every area of your life reflects Christ. Moral excellence should reflect on:-
i) Your Thoughts (Romans 1:20)
Your thought patterns will affect your life. A man’s ways are determined by his thoughts. Proverbs 3:20
ii) Words of Your Mouth:- Your thoughts should be excellent so that your mouth can speak good things. Keep your thoughts and words pure
iii) Action:- your thoughts are translated into words or actions. Your thoughts, words and actions should be in line.

PURITY AND ADOLESCENCE
A pure thing contains no dirt.
• As a Christian you are to be pure in your relationships especially with the opposite sex. (Leviticus 19:2; 2 Timothy 2:22)
• It is better to avoid than to cure so be careful in choosing your friends

HOW TO MAINTAIN PURITY
1. Do not be far from the word of God.(Joshua 1:7,8)
You can’t achieve anything without God. If you are not close to the word of God, you won’t know God’s will concerning you.
2. We need the Holy Spirit to help us remain pure. (Romans 7:19)
You can’t do any good by yourself; you need the Holy Spirit in order to live the Christian life successfully.
3. Do not forsake the gathering of God’s people. (Psalm 24:5)
4. Have a picture or vision of what God expects of you. (Proverbs 29:18)
5. Determination:- we have to be determined to get things done. Nobody can help you get determined. (James 1:22: Proverbs 4:23)
• Be determined not to allow anything outside the word/will of God to stay in your life.
6. Learn to keep company with the wise. Amos 3:3; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-7)
• Once a friend must not always be a friend, don’t let anybody steal your blessing by contaminating your purity. (1Kings 12:4-8; Genesis 12:4)
7. You must be prayerful.
8. Obey God with excitement (Deuteronomy 28:47-48; Hebrews 9:13-14)
9. Resist the devil by invoking the blood of Jesus and using His name to overcome the devil when temptations come around you.(James 4:7)
10. Choose to do the things that are expedient above the lawful (1 Corinthians 6:12)
11. Guard your heart against evil influences. (Proverbs 4:23; Matthew 12:35)
12. Always think on good and positive things. (Philippians 4:8)
13. Engage only in holy and healthy discussions (Matthew 12:37)
14. If you find yourself in any impurity pray using the following:-
• Confess your sins and ask for forgiveness
• Use the word against such desires of needs (John 17:17)
• Use the blood (John 1:17; Hebrews 9:13-14)

EXPRESSING PURE LOVE
It means being a blessing to someone i.e. meeting someone’s need cheerfully. God is an example of one who showed pure love to mankind by giving Jesus to die for our sins (John 3:16)

FLIRTING
It is a form of false love i.e. you just do things and say things your body dictates to you. Flirting is a sin because it is not of God. (Colossians 3:17)
• If your love does not edify you it is not good.

FALLING IN LOVE
Stop at appreciating somebody that is beautiful don’t go too far. Falling in love is not correct but rather you are to grow in love.

LITERATURE
Books you read (Galatians 5:22-23)
Avoid reading certain newspapers, magazines or novels that are saturated with impurity. Give no room to the devil. (Philippians 4:8; 2 Timothy 4:10)
If you want to become noble and worthwhile in this world never follow the proud. Don’t follow the crowd to do wrong. Hold on to reading the life story of great men in the Bible. Read Christian Literature.

MUSIC
Listening to worldly music is enjoying wrong things. Listen to Christian music.
(1 Corinthians 5:6; 2 Corinthians 7:1)

GENERAL CONDUCT
Don’t commit sin using the name of Christ. It is not right for a young girl to sit on a young man’s laps. We are judged according to our actions. (1Timothy 4:12)

FLIPPANCY (1TIMOTHY 6:20)
Don’t speak using worldly language. Be decent in Speech (Proverbs 4:23)

POISE
The way you stand and sit (Matthew 23:17-26)

YOUR BODY (1 CORINTHIANS 3:16)
Take your bath regularly.

WARDROBE
That is, what you put on. You need to look nice by the dress you put on. (Revelation 5:10)
• As a king look kingly in your dressing
Many suffer from an inferiority complex because they are aware that their clothes are not in perfect order. (1 Peter 3:3-4; Philippians 4:5)

Be known for your good character. Avoid expensive make-up and jewelry it is not so much what you have on you but that which is in you that creates real beauty. Run from all appearance of evil.

ADOLESCENT AND MONEY
Money depending on how it is spent can either be a blessing or a curse i.e. it can either make you happy or sorrowful.

PRINCIPLES ABOUT MONEY (TITHING)
It refers to 1/10 (One-Tenth) of your income, which belongs to God. (Malachi 3:10-12)
If you pay your tithe, God will open the windows of heavens towards you.

KINGDOM INVESTMENT (LIKE 6:338)
Give to the forwarding of the kingdom of God. If you don’t give to God you won’t receive. You have to be disciplined in how you use your money. Never borrow.

TEMPTATION (MATTHEW 26:41)
Watch and pray, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit for you to overcome the temptation. Give no room to the devil. To avoid temptation young people should avoid staying together in lonely places for long hours especially at night. “You don’t put fire under your bed and claim that it won’t burn you”. (Proverbs 6:27-28)
• Run for your life from sin.
• It is better to offend a person than to offend God. (James 4:7)
• Be willing to obey God (1Corinthians 10:13)
• God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can not bear. God will always provide a way of escape for you so be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and make use of this way of escape.

SMOKING AND DRINKING
It is not of God (1 Corinthians 3:16; Ephesians 5:18-20; Jeremiah 35:6, 18, 19)
• Don’t misuse your body so that God can use you.

DRUGS
Avoid drugs. Drugs and alcohol makes you loose your senses and do what you will not like to do when you are normal. (Genesis 19:32)

PARTIES (2 CORINTHIANS 6:14-18; DANIEL 5:1-6)

ADOLESCENTS AND THEIR PARENTS
EXODUS 20:12
PROVERBS 20:20
EPHESIANS 6:1-3

Hold your parents in high esteem. Anyone that is training you is your parent. If you dishonor your parents you are attracting curse to your life. The obligation of a wise child is to do the following to his parents:-

1. To honor his father and mother (Mark 7:10)
2. To obey them ( Colossians 3:20)
3. To show respect for them and their action. (Proverbs 30:17)
4. To show special respect and care for them in old age (Proverbs 23:22)
Romans 12:17-118
James 1:8

UNDERSTANDING MARRIAGE
Christian marriage is a God instituted lifetime union with love between a man and a woman according to God’s principle in the Bible. Marriage is not a bad thing. Christian marriage is the best, sweetest and greatest of all marriages.

PURPOSE OF CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE
1. For permanent spiritual, soul and physical companionship. Don’t be in a hurry about marriage, wait for God’s chosen time.
Psalm 68:6
Genesis 2:18-24
Matthew 19:3-9
Don’t just go ahead and marry anybody, look before you leap
2. For a suitable assistance in life (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)
3. For emotional balance and satisfaction (Genesis 2:23-25; Proverbs 5:15-19; Ecclesiastes9:9)
4. To prevent sexual perversion (Proverbs 5:20-21; 1 Corinthians 7:2-7)
5. For human involvement in Gods procreation works (Genesis 1:26-28)

HOW TO GO ABOUT IT
To have a successful Christian marriage, you must follow the following:-
1. Establish a genuine relationship with God. (John 1:2 ; Matthew 7:9-11)
2. Seek the face of God and the things of God first. (Matthew 6:33)
3. Be led by the spirit (2 Corinthians 5:7; Romans 8:14)
4. Build on solid foundation Luke 6:47-48; 1 Corinthians 3:9-12
5. Maintain Purity (1 Timothy 5:22; 2 Timothy 2:22; Luke 6:47-48)