Browsing Tag

character

What Mountain Dew Can Teach You About Life

Posted on December 11, 2013

Mountain Dew is a really popular drink which tastes amazing! Even though Mountain Dew tastes so good, it doesn’t really offer any nutritional value. For example, drinking a bottle of Mountain Dew every day won’t help you become a better athlete. However, drinking a sports drink could help because they are specially designed to help athletes. It’s the ingredients that make up those sports drinks that make the difference.

That’s true in life too. It’s the ingredients or tools that we build our lives on that matter. It’s those ingredients that we build our lives upon that determine our success. Jesus talks about this in Matthew.

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27 NLT)

So what are you building your life on? Are you building your life on Jesus? If you do, your foundation in life will be secure and unshakeable. If you haven’t made Jesus the foundation of your life choose to start today. Put Jesus first and you’ll be really glad you did.

How to Deal With Haters

Posted on November 20, 2013

Don’t you hate haters? They’re people in your life who will seemingly say or do anything to bash your dreams and goals. Their constant push of negativity can make you want to call it quits and give up. So how do you deal with these haters in life?

Realize haters will always exist. Unfortunately, there will always be people who will put you down and want to tear down your dreams, goals and ideas. These people will always exist, if you remove one from your life, another one will show up ready to spring into action. Realizing that there are always going to be people who aren’t going to like what you do, will help you deal with them and let what they say not affect you so much.
Don’t fight haters with hate. You will never come out ahead in the long run if you try to tear down a hater with your words or actions. The best way to fight a hater is to fight them with the love of God. Its awesome because it will throw them completely off track. If you’re nice to them and show them kindness, before too long they’ll no longer be a hater or have bad things to say. In the end, you’ll find that fighting hate with love is the best way.
Don’t let haters stop your dreams. Haters will always exist and sometimes its easy to let what they say stop your momentum. No matter what haters say, realize that you can’t let them dictate your future. Decide to turn a deaf ear to what they say and move forward towards your dreams and goals.

[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. – Romans 12:14 (Message)[/quote]

Unfortunately, haters will always exist. There will always be people who don’t like you for some reason, whether valid or not. The best thing you can do to fight haters is to show them God’s love. What do you think would happen if when someone said something mean to you, you showed up to their locker ten minutes later with a Pepsi for them, and wished them good luck on their math final? Do you think that might dispel the bad things they have to say about you? Maybe not right away, but eventually it would really get their attention and sink in.

Similar Devotions for Teens

Do I Love God More Than My Reputation?

Posted on October 14, 2013

I remember a time when I was playing drums at church in the youth group band. Practice had gone well and I was geared for a great worship service. I started playing the set and somewhere around the second song, my drum stick flew right out of my hand and hit me right in my eye. It made a loud noise and totally messed up what I was in the middle of playing. I remember feeling so dumb. I couldn’t believe that my drumstick just flew right out of my hand and hit me in the eye. I had never done that before in my life. I felt so stupid and knew that everyone there at church had seen it happen.

Its so easy to put a lot of importance on how we look to others. We hate it when we look bad or embarrass ourselves in front of others. I think a lot of the time we take this same way of thinking into our relationship with God. We don’t want to look silly to our friends, so we don’t really speak up about how God has changed our lives. We think our friends might think we’re dumb for believing in God and so we shut up. We think our silence is better than us possibly looking silly in front of our friends.

So I have a simple question for you: Do you love God more than your reputation?

Do you love God more than what others think about you. Would you stand up for God at your school if no one else did. Would you be bold enough to tell a friend how Jesus has changed your life? Or are you like most people who are afraid to tell others about Jesus. Are you afraid that someone will think you’re stupid because you believe in God. Are you willing to stand up for Jesus, even if it means possibly losing your reputation? That’s a big thing to consider.

I challenge you to not let your reputation get in the way of telling others about who God is to you. Don’t let it shut you up or steer you away from sharing your faith. Choose to make God more important to you than your reputation!

Jesus Freaks: Martyrs: Stories of Those Who Stood for Jesus: The Ultimate Jesus Freaks

This book is easy to read and is filled with awesome stories of people who made a stand for Jesus. They didn’t worry about how they would look or who they would offend. They stood up for what they believed in.

Similar Youth Devotions

Lessons on Success From Frozen Waffles

Posted on October 4, 2013

Frozen waffles could possibly be one of the best inventions on the planet. There is nothing better when you’re rushing off to school in the morning than being able to stuff a frozen waffle in the toaster and have a hot breakfast ready in just a few minutes. Other than enjoying their crispy goodness, have you ever stopped to think about where frozen waffles came from?

Frozen waffles began with a guy named Frank Dorsa. Frank got his feet wet by making mayo, then he started experimenting with making waffle batter. His waffle batter was really good, and he had lots of people wanting more of it than he could make and keep fresh. This caused a problem. His waffle batter was going bad. He had a great product, but couldn’t keep it fresh long enough to ship it all over the country.

So what did Frank do? He thought outside of the box and decided to ship the waffles frozen.

What if instead of finding a solution, Frank had said, ‘My waffle batter is going bad. Bummer! I guess I’m just going to have to say forget it, and stop making waffles”. If Frank would have done that, he would have cut the worldwide brand, Eggo short.

In the same way, how many times do we do that type of thing with God? Life throws us a problem and we say, “Bummer! I guess I’m going to have to forget it, or do something else”. We hit a problem and give up. We never stand our ground, believe God, and allow God to help us turn what looks like a problem into an opportunity.

[quote align=”center” color=”#999999″]But if any of you lack wisdom, you should pray to God, who will give it to you; because God gives generously and graciously to all. – James 1:5 (GNB)[/quote]

When you’re faced with a problem and you don’t know what to do, ask God. He wants to help you. When you’re teamed up with God, you know you’re bound for success! Let God help you, and you’ll see what once looked like a problem turn around into an awesome opportunity!

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Story Adapted from: “Eggo Guy – Frank Dorsa.” Mental Floss. September/October 2013

Similar Devotions For Teens

Four Lessons I Learned as a Freshman

Posted on August 2, 2013

My freshman year of high school was a nerve racking experience for me. I was stressed out about going to a new school and made a few mistakes during my freshman year. This devotion for teens covers the lessons I learned from my freshman year.

1. Living to make others happy doesn’t work– If you think that you can make others happy, that’s a mistake. The happiness of others is not your responsibility. If you live your life trying to keep other people happy all you’ll end up with is a stomach ache. Living to make others happy just doesn’t work. Live for what you know is right and don’t worry about what people at school might think.

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 ESV)

2. Stay involved at school– Its easy to when life gets stressful to want to pull back. However, dropping out of sports and other activities can be a mistake. Sometimes the diversion from schoolwork can really help with your grades. Also, getting involved gives you the chance to meet new friends and learn new things. Put your hand to something at school and you’ll be a lot more satisfied and happy.

Let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. (Ephesians 4:28 NKJV)

3.Be Friendly – To have friends you must be friendly. It can feel safer and easier to talk to only those people that you know and feel comfortable around. Challenge yourself to step out of your comfort zone and talk to others. You might find that God will use you to minister to or encourage someone else.

A man who has friends must himself be friendly. (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV)

4. God will always have your back. Always remember that no matter how stressful school is or how stressful other relationships are that Jesus understands where you’re coming from. He went through the same things you did while on earth and he can be a friend when you need one. He’ll always be there to listen and help you through tough situations.

But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24 NKJV)

I believe the lessons I learned as a freshman will help you and encourage you as you head back to school. Being at school comes with lots of challenges but if you keep God in the loop he’ll help you with everything that you’re facing.

Turning Up The Volume – Why Character Counts

Posted on July 24, 2013

Character is like the volume knob on a guitar amp. A guitar amp comes with tons of other knobs, dials and decals that are much flashier, making the volume knob easy to overlook. However, when you turn that volume knob up on an amp, you can really tell. It makes a big difference!
That’s exactly what character is like. It can seem like a small thing, but when its turned up in your life it can make a huge difference.

I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No SLOPPY living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself” – 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (MSG)

Here is a list of a few things that character is:

Character takes training – Character isn’t something that just happens. It is something that takes work to develop.
The best way to develop character is to start with small things. Any easy way to start is by getting up the first time your alarm rings in the morning or by helping out around the house when asked and not complaining.
Character takes time – Turning up the character in your life will take time. Many people aren’t interested in doing things if they can’t see results immediately.
Don’t become discouraged if it takes time for you to become good at being a person of character.
Character finishes well – Very few people finish well. Many people get discouraged and give up, many times right before they cross the finish line.
A person of character sticks with a decision and finishes well.

No matter where the character dial is in your life, you can turn it up. You can train and become a person of greater character. Examine your life and find an area where you can turn up the volume in character. Then decide to stick with it no matter how long it takes, and finish well!

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