Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. – Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

Have you noticed how easy it is to lose focus? Maybe you went to a summer camp this year (if they had them where you live), and you got really excited about God and living for Him. However, now that the school year is in swing and you’re busier, have you noticed that it’s easy to lose focus on Jesus?

It’s easy to let your friendships and relationships distract you from God. That’s why today’s Bible verse says to guard your heart.

If you’ve watched soccer, you know that one player’s position is to be the goalie. Their job is to guard the goal so the other team doesn’t score. In soccer and many sports, a good defense is really important to winning.

The same is true with our hearts. We need to be guarding our hearts. That means that we have to have some measures in place so that our hearts don’t begin to value other things higher than God.

Guarding your heart might look like saying no to going on the weekend canoe trip because you know that you’ll be challenged to do things that you know aren’t right. It might mean not listening to certain music or watching certain shows.

Challenge yourself to get honest and put a priority on guarding your heart. Don’t let relationships take you away from God.

Today’s Challenge: Help someone else, leave a comment with ideas you’ve found helpful for guarding your heart.

Want to go deeper? Check out our 5-day devotion: Every Teenager’s Guide to Successful Friendships.

There are so many reasons to be upset right now. Maybe you’re at a new school. Perhaps your school isn’t meeting in person. For many people, this school year is a scary and uncertain time.

However, even in the middle of all the uncertainty, we can determine to practice joy. You can be full of joy even when it seems like nothing is going the way you want it to go.

You can choose joy in the middle of the storm, not because you’re so amazing, but because you know a God who is. God says He won’t leave you. He won’t forsake you. You’re not doing all this alone.

If you’re discouraged, take some time to see if you need to spend more time encouraging yourself in God’s word. Find scriptures that speak to what bothers you most about this year and write them out. Put them on your mirror or in a place you’ll see them each day. Feed on God’s word and choose to be full of joy this school year!

Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. – Phil 2:4 (NLT)

School is starting up, and you might not be all that excited. Maybe you’re schooling online and you’re dreading it. Or perhaps you’re meeting in person, but you know that you’ll be wearing masks and the idea of something itchy on your face is driving you crazy.

It’s easy with all the stuff that isn’t good happening right now to be selfish and upset. And of course that’s understandable. Your school year probably isn’t exactly what you had in mind.

However, if you want to have a great year this year, challenge yourself to be helpful. If you’re at home, see what you can do around the house to help out. Maybe you can start the dishwasher. Your mom would totally freak out.

Perhaps you can help the new kid figure out his locker combination, or help a teacher collect papers at the end of class.

As you practice being helpful, not only does it help others but it helps you too. You begin to take the focus off yourself and put it on others. That’s what God wants us to do as Christians. We should be looking for opportunities to do whatever we can to help others.

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. – Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

To be successful at school, you’ve got to focus. What you put your focus on makes a huge difference. You might see students that get good grades and think, well, they’re just so smart. I’m not as smart as them, so I can’t get as good of grades.

In many cases, that’s not true. Often, getting good grades is more of doing the right things. For example, it might be doing an extra credit worksheet for math to bump up your grade. Sometimes, its just going to class and really paying attention instead of passing notes with your friends.

What you focus on matters if you want to do well academically. Often, your grades can be improved simply by paying attention in class and doing a few extra things.

The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus. Bruce Lee

That quote is really true. Often successful people are just average people who really focus on getting better in an area. So if you’ve let yourself slip into getting just ok grades, ask yourself honestly if there are some areas where you could improve.

Finally, ask God, if there are any areas where you could put in a little more focus and see good results. God wants to help guide you into success this school year.

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. – Romans 12:11 (NIV)

It’s fun to sit and scroll through your Instagram feed, or spend hours playing your favorite video game. If we’re honest, we’d all probably say we’d rather play games than work hard.

And there’s no denying games and social media are way more fun than hard work, don’t forget that hard work pays off in the long run.

Whatever you do, whether it’s your schoolwork, your job, or doing things around your house, don’t forget that there are benefits to working hard. As you develop a good work ethic now, it makes it easier for you to get a good job later.

The decisions you make each day about whether to do your best in your school work or to do your best at home or in your job are creating habits. Laziness now, will show up on your job later. It may cost you a promotion when you’re an adult. So today, challenge yourself to work hard at all you do. It will pay off in your habits as an adult.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. – Phil 4:8 (NIV)

Have you noticed how easy it is to compare yourself to others? Perhaps you noticed that someone has a better phone than you do. Or maybe another person just always seems to say the right thing at the right time and everyone likes them.

It’s so easy to see what others have, compare it to what you have, and feel like you fall short.

The problem with comparison is that it will always leave you unhappy and unfulfilled.

Today’s Tip: Quit Comparing

So if you’ve been guilty of comparing yourself to others determine this school year to stop. There’s always going to be someone smarter than you. If not at your school then in college. There’s always going to be a better athlete than you. And if you compare your performance and your worth to how you measure up to others you’ll always be disappointed.

This year, decide to quit comparing yourself to others and be happy with who you are.

What are some ways you’ve found helpful to be happy with what you have?

Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. – Romans 12:11 (NLT)

It’s so easy to get distracted. From getting engrossed in Instagram, binge-watching Netflix, spending time with friends, or school work it’s so easy to get distracted and become detached from the things of God. Today’s Bible verse is a challenge to that. It tells us to live our lives wholeheartedly for God.

We are to work hard and serve God enthusiastically. Serving God shouldn’t be something we fit in on church day if we have the time or unless something better comes up. Serving God should be the way we live our lives.

And while technology and friends aren’t wrong, when we let them come in place of spending time with God, something is out of place. We should make serving God our priority and have fun doing it. It’s fun to bless someone in need. It’s fun to read the Bible and find an answer for a difficult situation that you’re facing. It’s fun to trust God and see Him come through for you. So purpose today to serve God wholeheartedly and enthusiastically.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. – Galatians 6:2 (NIV)

This year has been a really difficult one. Most of us had no idea the effect that COVID would have on our world. And it’s easy to be so upset about how it’s inconvenienced our lives that we forget that others around us are hurting too.

So this year, as you go back to school, be sure to look for opportunities to help others.

Ask God to show you someone you could help or encourage. It might be a simple thing like asking someone to sit at your lunch table so they don’t have to eat alone. Don’t be afraid to go out of your way to help others.

As you look for ways to help others, it will end up bringing you joy. So be sure to look for ways to help others around you this year. It will help make your school year more fun for you too!