For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. – 1 Peter 3:10 (NLT)

How many times do we talk badly about other people? How many times do we lie? Maybe not even a full-blown lie, just a little one. One of those where you just stretch the truth of what happened a little bit. It’s so easy to fall into the habit of speaking bad things.

Today’s Bible verse is a challenge to us. It challenges us to keep our tongue from speaking evil and our lips from telling lies. That might seem really hard when you think about it.

The good news about God is that He doesn’t give us a challenge like this without knowing that we can do it. It might take a little work or self-control on our part, but we can do it. We can determine to speak good things about others. We can choose to tell the truth.

We aren’t alone either when it comes to changing these habits. The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is our helper. He will help us to do it. The Holy Spirit will give us the ability to make these changes. So today, if you’ve made a habit out of speaking badly of others or telling lies, ask God for help. Ask Him to help you change your habits so you can begin to speak well.

Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. – Deut 8:3 (NLT)

How often do we let what people say affect our idea of who God is? Maybe we listen to preaching on YouTube, or listen to our pastor at church preach. And those people have great insights into God and His character. But if we let our knowledge about God simply be based on the experiences of others, we will be selling our relationship with God short.

We should love God and get to know Him through His word. Not through the ideas and words of others. Because there is power in getting to know God through reading the Bible. When we read the Bible, we allow it to speak into our hearts and lives.

Getting to know God for ourselves through the Bible is powerful. That’s when we will really understand who God is for ourselves. So if you haven’t, take some time to read your Bible. Find a version of the Bible online and read and get to know God through His word. When you do, you’ll realize how good He is and the awesome things He has in store for you!

And don’t allow yourselves to be weary or disheartened in planting good seeds, for the season of reaping the wonderful harvest you’ve planted is coming!  – Galatians 6:9 (TPT)

When things are going good, it’s so easy to be happy. However, when things are hard, sometimes being happy and content is really hard. One good way to keep yourself encouraged is by thinking about the stories of others who kept going when things were tough.

For example, Joseph in the Bible was in prison for a long time. He didn’t deserve to be there, but he didn’t give up. After a long time, he was delivered from prison and promoted. Joseph kept himself encouraged when it didn’t look like anything was going to change.

The hard part about being in a place that you don’t like is that it always feels like it’s taking too long. I’m sure Joseph felt that way being in prison year after year. He might have even wondered if God had forgotten him.

Today’s Truth: God hasn’t forgotten you. Stay faithful and don’t give up!

The good news is that God didn’t forget him. As Joseph stayed faithful, his season of waiting was over. His promotion came, it just took time. The same is true for you. You might feel like you’re waiting for what God has promised you. The good news is, God always comes through on his promises. Be encouraged, God hasn’t forgotten you. He will reward you if you stay faithful and don’t give up!

Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the LORD, God gave him success. – 2 Chronicles 26:5 (NLT)

When you’re looking at a future career, it can be easy to just look at what looks the most exciting. Maybe you want to make lots of money, so you pursue a career that will bring you wealth. Or perhaps you go after a job that will get you into a fun or funky marketing company because you like the atmosphere. Lots of thought usually goes into your career decision.

One thing many teenagers forget to do, however, is to seek guidance from God. God wants you to have an awesome life, full of adventure following after Him. He has good things in store for you. This doesn’t mean that life is always going to be easy, but by following God’s plan, will help you feel more fulfilled.

So today, if you’re considering a career, seek the advice of others, look for things that seem fun and exciting, but ultimately, be open to God’s leading. God will show you what college to go to or what career to pursue that is right for you.

Be open to hear from Him and don’t be afraid to act on what you hear. He might ask you to do or go somewhere that might seem different than what you expected. Trust His leading. He’s not going to tell you to do something that will hurt you in the long run. Trust God and get His guidance when making decisions.

“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” – 1 Timothy 4:8 (NLT)

Living a godly life can get a bad name sometimes. We can often think that being godly means that we don’t get to have any more fun. We imagine our nights full of reading the Bible and saying no to every fun thing our friends ask us to do.

But in reality, God doesn’t ask us to hate life, or to even say no to all fun. In this verse, He just tells us that godliness is better. Living for God brings benefits in your life now and in your life to come.

God wants to bring good things into your life. He wants you blessed, successful and promoted at everything you do. So today, if you’re on the fence about living for God, be encouraged. God has good things for you. He’s not trying to keep you from fun but rather wants to bring you benefits and blessings that you’ve never imagined.

As you get to know Him, you’ll realize that knowing Him is far better than any fun you might feel like you miss out on. Instead, stay close to God, follow after Him and you’ll experience blessings in this life and the one to come!

Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life. – Ephesians 3:17

I learned some HTML programming while in school. One fun thing I learned was how to go to source view in a browser. When viewing the source, you can see all the HTML code that makes up a web page. If a link to a stylesheet wasn’t typed properly, a page could look horrible. I realized quickly in my basic web programming class that the source mattered.

In our lives, this is true too. Our source matters. Where do we base our happiness? When we feel down and unworthy, where do we go to find our value and worth? The things we look to be our source make a huge difference in the trajectory of our lives.

Today’s Truth: Look to Jesus to be the source of what you need for life.

Often, we discover the source of our worth and happiness when things are tough. When things are good, it’s easy to say that Jesus is your source. It’s when things get really hard that we struggle and often realize that perhaps we hadn’t made Jesus our true source. So today, regardless of what you’re facing, be encouraged. Jesus loves you. He wants to be your source. So look to Him. Read your Bible and put in the effort to make Jesus the source of all you need in your life.