Browsing Tag

habits

What Vine Teaches Us About Breaking Bad Habits

Posted on July 22, 2015

Teen Devotion Youth Lesson on Bad HabitsVine is great! I love watching the videos that people create. Most of the time I’m really impressed with how funny and creative people are. The fun thing about Vine is that the videos are short and they loop so you can often get sucked into watching like a million of them at a time.

Vine reminds me a lot about habits. Habits like Vine can loop. You can get into a cycle of bad habits and it can seem tough sometimes to stop. So here are a few tips to help you overcome a bad habit loop.

  1. Change it up. If there’s a certain area where you just keep getting sucked into the same bad habit time and time again, try changing things up. For example, if you are tempted to look at porn online, try changing it up only using your computer in areas of your house where others are at. Or if you have problems with swearing, try replacing that bad word with another word until you stop swearing all together. Changing it up can help you break a bad habit.
  2. Keep accountable. Find someone who can hold you accountable and give you advice overcoming your habit. By having someone check in on you, ask how you’re doing and give you feedback can be invaluable when trying to overcome a habit. Keeping accountable is a great way to start.
  3. Ask for Wisdom. If you are having trouble breaking out of a bad habit, ask God for His help and wisdom. He may give you an idea or a creative way you can break the habit. Don’t discount the power of asking for God’s help. You don’t have to do this alone.

    Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him. – James 1:5

  4. Read The Bible. Spending time in God’s word is one of the best ways to break out of a bad habit loop. There is power in the Bible.

    For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. – Hebrews 4:12 (NLT)

    Spend time reading the Bible. It is a great way that God can lead you and speak to you. Get into God’s word and out of your bad habits.

Getting stuck in a loop of a bad habit can be frustrating at times. You can feel like you keep messing up again and again. However there’s good news. God has given you the ability to overcome any challenge or habit you face.

Stay encouraged, with God’s help you can win over bad habits!

 

What Crayons Teach Us About Attitude

Posted on July 8, 2015

youth-devotion-on-attitude

Can you think back to when you were a little kid and loved coloring with crayons? How many hours did you spend doodling and filling the pages of your coloring book with your masterpieces. As a kid, coloring is a pretty fun way to spend your time.

Coloring is pretty great because it can teach you some things about attitude. When you color with crayons, you select the color you want to use and begin to color. That’s a lot like how attitude works. You can choose your attitude and how you react to situations. You can choose to always be upset and to dislike life, or you can choose to be happy.

Lots of times, we wait for everything to be perfect in our lives to be happy. We think that when we have more free time we will be happy. Or when we move out of our parent’s homes then we will be happy. If you wait for everything to be perfect in your life to have a good attitude, you will be waiting a long time.

Instead of waiting for things in your life to get better to be happy, why don’t you choose to be happy now? Just like you’d pick a color of crayon to color with, you can pick your attitude toward the things that happen to you every day.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. – Phil 4:11 (NIV)

Paul shows us here that we can be content in any set of circumstances. Whether you got the grade you wanted on your final, or didn’t make the basketball team, you can choose to be content. It might not come right away, and it might take some work, but you can learn to be content.

So the next time you’re coloring with a box of crayons, let it be a reminder to you that you have the power to choose your attitude. You can choose to be content, regardless of what is happening around you.

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5 Ways to Lose Friends

Posted on June 22, 2015

Teen Devotion on ways to lose friends

Getting along with people isn’t easy. As a teenager, you face lots of situations where your people skills are challenged. We’ve got a list of things in this devotion that are sure ways to lose friends.

  1. Mean Words – This is a big one. Its easy to let mean words slip out…especially in those heated moments while fighting with your brother or your mom. However, the Bible encourages us to think of others and to think before we speak.
    James 1:9 – “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” – NLT
    Begin to think about what you say and also think about the consequences of what you say. Your words can cut deeper than you realize, so decide speak words that build others up.
  2. Lack of discipline – developing discipline is hard. Its way easier to do just what feels good and not set any boundaries in your life, but discipline is important.
    A good way to grow in discipline is to find habits that you admire in others and learn from them. Decide to grow in discipline daily. Another good thing to do is to think about how you conduct yourself. The things you do now and how you treat others will effect what you’re doing five years from now.
  3. Disloyalty – No one likes someone that is two faced. If you’re acting one way around some people and the bad mouthing them behind their backs, you’re not being loyal. Choose to be loyal to your friends, family and authority figures. Don’t talk about people behind their back and choose to be loyal no matter what.
  4. Lack of tact – You can probably think of that person you know that just seems to have no filter on what they do and say. They don’t seem to know when to say things and when to hold back.
    Tact is important, so when you’re not sure why a person is acting a certain way, put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel if you had the same experiences that they had?
    Also realize that you need to have a relationship with someone to speak into their life. Don’t just start pointing out all their character flaws. Use tact when dealing with awkward situations.
  5. Lack of confidence – Many teenagers deal with low self-esteem. The thing to remember is that most of life isn’t all about you. You aren’t expected to be able to do everything well or have all the right things to say.
    Lacking confidence can really kill your friendships, it can cause people to not want to be around you or avoid you. Choose to believe what God says about you.
    Psalm 139:14 – “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complext! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it!” (NLT)

 

These are just five ways that you can lose friends. If you’re guilty of one of them, ask God for His help in overcoming in that area. He can give you great ideas to help you kick the habit. Remember, God’s there to help you live your life each day, so go to Him to get the help you need to win in these areas.

Pray: God I thank you for your word. I ask you for your help in becoming better at dealing with other people. I know with your help I can become great at dealing with others. I ask for your wisdom and creative ideas for improving my people skills.

Listen: We Can Change the World – by Hawk Nelson

Surviving Summer Vacation

Posted on June 15, 2015

Teen Devotion on Surviving Summer Vacation

Summer vacation can be a little rough at times. Perhaps you’re crammed into a car with your brothers and sisters and have to drive half-way across the country to see some old monument that you could honestly care less about. Or perhaps, you’re stuck driving your little brother to all his baseball games, when you’d rather just be hanging out with your friends. Whatever the case may be, we know that summer vacation can feel long, boring, and less than awesome at times, so we’ve put together a few tips to help you survive summer vacation.

  1. Pay attention to what you say.
    It can be easy to get mad at  your brother or sister because of something they did. You can want to lash out at them and call them a horrible name or tell them you hate them. However, your words are really powerful. They can cause hurts that you never intended. So spend a little extra time thinking about the words that you speak.

    The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. – Proverbs18:21

  2. Have a good attitude.
    There may be times during summer vacation that you are forced to do something that you’d rather not do. In those times, you can choose the attitude you will have. So choose to be happy!

    Rejoice in the Lord always- delight, gladden yourselves in Him: again I say, rejoice! – Philippians 4:6

  3. Get creative.
    You might be stuck at home or bored out of your mind. Use the time to find something creative to do. Build your little brother a fort out of cardboard boxes. Try baking something new. Invite your friends over for a water balloon fight. Just get creative and find out of the box ways to keep yourself entertained.
  4. Spend some extra time in Bible study and prayer.
    If you’re bored in a car, at your house or at your brother’s baseball game, spend the extra time reading your Bible. Download an app for your phone, or use the good old fashioned paper Bible. Whatever works for you, just spend some time reading the Bible and getting excited to know God deeper.

Summer vacation can sometimes feel like its not going your way. You might feel like you’re not able to do all the things you want to do. Don’t spend too much time getting sad or upset. Rather, focus on keeping a good attitude and choosing to be happy regardless of what is going on around you.

[Tweet “Make the decision to be happy regardless of what is going on around you. – @studentdevos”]

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What a Yo-Yo Can Teach You About Your Relationship With God

Posted on June 8, 2015

What a yo yo can teach you about your relationship with GodJune 6th was a holiday called national yo-yo day. If you’re like most people, June 6th probably came and went for you without a lot of celebration for the little known holiday. However, we’d like to shed some light on this under appreciated holiday and show how it can influence your relationship with God.

The day is celebrated on the birthday of Donald Duncan from Duncan Toys who was responsible for helping the yo-yo gain much of its popularity.

If you’ve ever used a yo-yo, you know its not always as easy as it looks. I remember trying and trying to get mine to go down and come up right. With some practice I actually got the hang of it, and experimented with some tricks.

I think a lot of times in our walks with God, it can often feel like a yo-yo. We have a good day when we read the Bible and get a lot out of it. Then a few days later we read and can’t even remember what we read. Or maybe we go to a youth camp and get really excited about God, but when we get home, we start getting involved with our friends and what’s going on, and we start to forget about God. Simply put, it can feel lots of times like your relationship with God is like a yo-yo. There’s lots of ups and downs.

Here’s something to think about if you feel like you’re in an up or down swing in your relationship with God. Here’s a great secret: to have a successful relationship with God you can’t let emotions be your indicator. You might feel goosebumps when you read the Bible one day and absolutely nothing the next. This doesn’t mean that God has left or that there is something wrong with you.

Indeed, our lives are guided by faith, not by sight. – 2 Cor 5:7

We are encouraged to not walk by what we see or feel but to walk by faith. So if there’s a day when you don’t feel excited about reading your Bible, or that you got much out of it, don’t get discouraged and give up. Rather continue to walk by faith and not be moved by what you see or your feelings.

4 Reasons to Live for God

Posted on April 29, 2015

Devotion on reasons to live for God

It can be easy to wonder, ‘what is the point of living for God?’  You probably have friends that don’t live for God, and it seems like they’re having more fun than you. Or maybe you feel like there is so much pressure to be good and do the ‘right’ thing that you question if it is really worth it.

It can be really hard to stand strong in the face of peer pressure and live for God. Even though it can be hard at times, living for God is always worth it. So here are four reasons to live for God.

  • Living for God Doesn’t Bring Heartbreak
    There can be pain and hurt associated with making bad choices. Choosing to do things God’s way can seem hard at times. However, in the end, you won’t experience the regrets and heartbreak that not living for God will bring.
  • Living for God Brings Rewards –
    God brings rewards into the lives of those who do right.

    The LORD rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. – Psalm 18:24

    This doesn’t mean God is mad or doesn’t love those who don’t do right. God loves people regardless of whether they do right or wrong. However, doing the right things sets you up to be rewarded in the end.

  • You Get to Choose to Live for God
    A great thing about living for God is that it starts with a choice you make. You decide to put aside peer pressure and choose to live for God. One of the best decisions you can make is to start living for God when you’re young. Don’t put it off.  Make the choice to take control of your life and choose to live for God.
  • Living for God Doesn’t Mean You Have to Be Perfect
    What a relief, you don’t have to be perfect to start living for God. Many times we make living for God really hard, but here’s the truth: You don’t have to be perfect to start living for God. Lots of times in living for God, you’re going to mess up. That’s ok. God’s grace is big enough to help you through it. The good news is that you don’t have to be perfect to live for God.

Living for God might seem hard sometimes, however, in the end it is always worth it. Decide today to live for God and don’t let anything stop you or get in your way. If you do mess up, you can pick yourself back up, knowing that God’s love and grace are there for you.

Listen: You Lead by Jamie Grace

 

How to Be Happy

Posted on April 20, 2015

Teen Devotion on How To Be HappyWhere do you find happiness? Is it getting an “A” in Biology? Is it getting asked to prom by your secret crush or perhaps making the baseball team? What determines your happiness everyday?

True happiness isn’t found in things.

True happiness isn’t found in having something, doing something or being something. Being happy is a choice. Everyday you have to choose if you’re going to let problems and the stressful situations you face get you down. If you wait until all your problems and stress go away to be happy, you’ll be waiting a long time.

In the midst of the stresses and problems facing you, you can choose to enjoy your life. Just like you can set the alarm clock on your phone to get up in the morning for school, you can choose to set your attitude everyday.

“The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” – John 10:10

Jesus died so we could have the good life. So why not live life happy?

Here are some tips to boost your happiness:

  1. Look for and expect something good to happen today
  2. Don’t allow your joy to be stolen by the negative things that happen to you everyday
  3. Laugh more at yourself and find something to laugh about daily
  4. Forgive yourself and others for mistakes
  5. Learn to enjoy God, yourself and the people around you

Happiness is a choice. You choose everyday if you’re going to let the worries, problems and junk from your day get you down. Determine that you’re going to decide to be happy no matter what is going on around you. You’ll find that you’ll quickly start enjoying life more!

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5 Reasons to Make Good Choices With Money

Posted on March 23, 2015

Teen Devotion, Youth Bible Lesson on Money

You might think that what you do with your money as a teenager doesn’t matter, or that making good financial choices is something you can think about when you’re older. Its easy to think that saving money and thinking about your financial future is something you can put off until you’re older and have a great job. However, its important as a teenager to start making smart choices with money right now. Here are a few reasons why.

  1. You want to be successful. – If you want to be a success in life, a great place to start is with your finances. Its easier to start on a path to financial success now because the habits you develop now set the tone for the rest of your life. Its much easier to start off now on a good financial path rather than to create bad habits that take time and hard work to break. Choose to not take the lazy and easy route. It will pay off in the end if you make good choices for financial success now.
    Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began, and let the Lord be all in all to you. – Charles H. Spurgeon
  2. You don’t want to live with regrets. If you make lots of bad financial decisions now, it can hinder your financial future. If you buy things you can’t afford, or rack up lots of debt, it will likely cause regret later in life. Choose instead to use wisdom when making financial decisions.
    The wicked man borrows and does not repay, but the righteous one is gracious and giving. – Proverbs 37:21 (HCSB)
  3. You become more desirable to the opposite sex. If you’re looking to get married one day, this is something you should think about. Your debt and financial choices will carry into your future marriage. If you rack up tons of debt and make a lot of trivial purchases, your future husband or wife will have to deal with those choices. If you want to be more attractive to the opposite sex, its good to be sure that you’re making sound financial decisions now.
  4. You show that you’re trustworthy. If you can be trusted with money, it shows that you can be trusted with lots of other things too. If you are prompt to pay people, and if you’re not owing lots of people money that sets you up to be someone that others feel they can trust.
    Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. – Luke 16:10 (HCSB)
  5. You want to be well off financially.  If you want to do well financially, you need to start making good choices with your money now. The best thing you have going for you as a teenager is time. The crazy thing about interest on investment and savings accounts is how much it grows with time. The younger you start investing in your future, the more money you’ll make. Choose to make good choices now so you can be well off financially when you’re older.

There are lots of reasons why it makes sense to start making good decisions with your money as a teenager. Its important to begin good financial habits when you’re young so that you can reap the benefits when you get older. Choose to not take the path that seems easy, but rather put a little effort in to reap good financial rewards later.

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3 Ways Fear Will Stop Your Dreams

Posted on January 22, 2015

devotion for teens on fearWe all want to accomplish the dreams and the goals God has placed on our heart to do. However, there is one thing that will always stop dreams from coming to pass, fear. Fear will always stop you from doing what God has called you to do. Let’s take a look at three things fear does to our lives.

  1. Fear Paralyzes Dreams – If fear is left unchecked in your life, it will paralyze you and keep you from accomplishing the things that God has placed in your heart to do.
    God will always call you to do something bigger than what you can accomplish by yourself. Its easy to feel fear when thinking about what God has put in your heart to do. The main thing to remember is to not let that fear stop you from accomplishing what God has told you to do.
  2. Fear Brings Unhappiness – You will always be unhappy if you’re living your life afraid. You know deep down inside you that you’re not doing the things God has placed in your heart to do. You won’t feel happy until you remove fear from your life.
  3. Fear Limits Your Relationship With God – Your relationship with God will be challenged if you leave fear in tact in your life. The best thing you can do for your relationship with God is to kick fear out of your life. Take a stand and don’t let fear keep you from doing anything God has asked you to do.

Experiencing feelings of fear isn’t wrong. The Bible has stories of many people who were used of God who experienced feelings of fear when God called them. Those who were used by God had to decide to not let fear stop God’s call. Even though they had feelings of fear, they learned to trust God and to not let fear hold them back from accomplishing God’s plan for their lives. Decide today to not let fear keep you from doing what God has called you to do.

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? – Psalm 118:6

3 Resons To Keep Your Word

Posted on January 14, 2015

Devotion for Teens - Keeping Your Word

Don’t you hate it when people don’t keep their word? Maybe your mom said she’d take you for ice cream after school and forgot all about it. Perhaps you had a friend that borrowed money from you and said they’d pay you back the next day but never did. When people don’t keep their word, it can be really frustrating. Here are some good reasons to keep your word, even when it isn’t easy.

Keep your word even when it costs you” – Psalm 15:5 (Message)

  • Keeping your word pays off in the end. It probably doesn’t feel like it will pay off, but keeping your word will set you up for future success. It might feel like you’re not getting ahead when you do what you say, but if you keep your word, people begin to trust you. That trust will lead to you having more responsibility.
  • Keeping your word takes guts. It’s not easy to follow through with what you say. Sometimes, it means you end up having to do something you’d rather not do. Keeping your word isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes a person who is committed and is ready to do the right thing no matter how hard it might seem.
  • Keeping your word takes work. Its easier to not follow through and do the things you say you’ll do. It’s hard to keep your word. It also doesn’t happen right away. It’s a habit that you have to develop. Realize that learning to keep your word doesn’t happen overnight. Don’t become discouraged if you’re not perfect at it right away. Keep working on it, and you’ll get better the more you make it a priority in your life.

Keeping your word isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes guts and it takes work. However, keeping your word is something that will pay off in the end. You won’t have regrets or have to feel bad because you didn’t do something that you said you would do.

It’s better to stay silent than to commit to something that you know you can’t fulfill. Challenge yourself to begin becoming a person that keeps their word. It will really pay off in the end!