Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us – Romans 5:1 (TPT)

You’re probably a week or two into your summer vacation. Maybe things aren’t just going the way you wanted. Perhaps all your friends went on a school trip and you’re stuck at home babysitting your brother. Yuck!

It can be really easy to lose focus when things aren’t going the way you want them to. You can begin to forget how blessed you really are. So even if your summer vacation isn’t turning out the way you dreamed, you can be encouraged by today’s Bible verse.

Today’s verse tells us that our faith transferred God’s righteousness to us. That means that you are righteous. You’re not trying, hoping or wishing to get righteous. In God’s eyes, you are righteous and flawless. That’s good news! The sin that had once separated you from God no longer has a hold on you.

That truth gives you peace. You might not be excited about your current circumstances, but you can be at peace. You can know that at the end of the day you have value and worth because of what Jesus did. There’s no longer anything holding you back. So today, practice joy in your life. Live at peace because Jesus made you flawless in God’s eyes!

We look away from the natural realm and we fasten our gaze onto Jesus who birthed faith within us and who leads us forward into faith’s perfection.  – Hebrews 12:2 (a) TPT

One time I was driving and I dropped my phone. I thought it would be easy to just quickly reach down and grab it. However, my phone had bounced and flipped its way under my seat. I could feel it, but I just couldn’t seem to dislodge it. I took a break and reached under the seat again and gave it a good tug. My phone came flying up from whatever was holding it. However, in the time I had spent with my head down getting my phone, my car was no longer on the smooth road. I had begun to drive in the gravel next to the road and was sort of fishtailing a bit out of control.

Thankfully, I wasn’t hurt. It was a good wake up call for me though. I realized that it really did matter where I was looking at when I was driving. That’s a lot like what today’s Bible verse is challenging us to do. It tells us to look away from the natural realm and fasten our gaze on Jesus.

The Bible tells us this because God knows how important it is for us to focus our attention on Jesus. In the world we live in today, it’s so easy to let Jesus fall out of focus. We have so many things that try to drag our attention off of Him. However, if we’re to keep our relationship with Jesus strong and exciting, we’ve got to take our eyes off all the distractions and focus on Jesus.

Today challenge yourself to spend more time focusing on Jesus. Don’t get distracted by all the other things trying to get your attention. Rather focus on Jesus and let Him lead your life.

For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God. – Hebrews 3:4 (NLT)

Have you ever walked down the street and looked at all the houses or buildings and thought those buildings were not built by someone? The foundation, walls, and roof didn’t just show up one day. No, someone put some thought and some effort into building them.

In the same way, God built everything we see in the world around us. Maybe not the buildings, but the plants, the animals, the sky, and people. God built them all.

Knowing that you are created by a intelligent, wise and loving God changes everything. It means that even if you don’t like yourself, even if people don’t treat you right, God built you. That means that you have value and that you’re important to God.

So, even if you feel that you lack confidence in your abilities, when you know that you’ve been created by God it changes things. You can build confidence in a creator God that loves you, and let His confidence in you become your confidence.

Today’s Truth: Even when you don’t have confidence in yourself, your creator has confidence in you.

Your creator, God made you for a purpose. He loves you and places His confidence in you. So today, choose to see yourself as God sees you. Realize that you’re not an accident. He made you on purpose to do good things!

If you struggle with a lack of confidence, check out our awesome new teen devotion, Every Teenager’s Guide to a Healthy Self-esteem. It’s packed with scriptures to encourage you to see yourself as God sees you, and to walk in the freedom He provided for you!

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:30 (NIV)

Do you like doing things the easy way? I remember a time when I was shown an easier way to add. When I understood this way of combining numbers to make adding easier, it changed everything. I was able to do simple math in my head quickly.

In life, there’s a way for us to make things easier. It’s following after Jesus. By following Jesus, we avoid much of the heartache the world has. The world will try to pursue things that don’t really satisfy. However, if we chase after Jesus and pursue His interests, our life gets easier.

That doesn’t mean that we’re free from problems, but it does mean that we can go through problems with hope because we know our creator cares for us. Our creator made us and wants good things for us. So today, choose to join up with Jesus.

He wants to help make your life easier and His burden is light. So today, if you’ve not chosen to follow Jesus with your whole heart, make that decision. Follow after Jesus completely. It’s the best decision you can make.

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. – Proverbs 14:30 (NIV)

I remember a time when I really wished I had a boyfriend. I wanted one more than anything else in the world. All my friends had one, and it felt like I was the only person in the world without a significant other. I began to be upset with my friends because I was so jealous of their relationships. My envy made me unhappy and upset almost all the time.

Today’s Bible verse talks about envy. It says that it rots the bones. That was certainly true in my life. My jealousy toward friends made me unhappy every waking moment. I became withdrawn and very sad. I realized in the long run that being envious never makes you happy.

Instead of being jealous of others, choose today to live at peace. Let yourself be happy regardless of your situation or circumstances. If you don’t have a relationship, choose to be content. Spend that time of singleness getting to know God better. Look for the good things about your situation. Yes, you might not be in a relationship, but you do have time now to focus on your relationship with God. So get to know Him and get excited about what He’s speaking into your life.

Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king. – 1 Peter 2:17

Many people today have little respect for others. This attitude can creep into our lives as Christians sometimes too. We don’t respect our boss at work, we talk about how horrible our teachers are at school, or maybe we even bash the people that go to our youth group or church for things they do.

Sometimes it can be really easy to fall into the habit of talking about others and focusing only on the negative traits of those around us. However, this isn’t the way that God really wants for us to live.

Today’s Bible verse challenges us to respect everyone. That isn’t to say you’re going to agree with what everyone around you does, but rather you’re going to treat them with kindness and respect. You should look for opportunities to speak well of other people. Challenge yourself to be actively looking for good things in the lives of others instead of displaying the bad. Doing this isn’t what comes naturally most of the time. However, it’s the right thing to do. So today, challenge yourself to look for good things in other people and show them some respect.