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.

Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.  – Psalm 103:2 (NIV)

Have you noticed that when you’re in the middle of something, it’s really hard to see progress? During the school year, it can feel like your classes are dragging on and you’ve got mountains of homework. It can be difficult to see the progress you’re making because you’re so zoomed in on what you’re currently facing.

It’s good to take some time, especially at the end of a school year and reflect on what you’ve learned so far. Maybe you pushed ahead in learning more math that you didn’t know, or got better at playing your instrument. It’s really good to spend time evaluating and not forgetting where you started.

The same is true spiritually too. It can be easy to feel like you’re not really making spiritual progress as fast as you’d like. You can wish that some of your bad habits would go away faster. Instead of beating yourself up about how you’re not where you’d like to be, it can be helpful to take some time to remember.

Remember where you came from. Remember that you’re not where you were at the beginning of the year. Recall the ways that God has encouraged you or spoken to you. Don’t let the feelings of inadequacy be all you feel. Instead choose to look to see the progress you’ve made so far. Don’t forget where God has come through for you and brought you out.