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Even prior to a child becoming a teen, setting a good example is your most valuable asset in having influence in his or her life. This also makes giving Christian advice to teens a lot easier. Though obviously the teenage years are often the most turbulent in a person's life, most teens don't shut out the people who care about them. In fact, if you're a parent or adult role model in a teen's life, you're extremely important to his or her development into a young adult. You don't have to back away or keep your distance. You just need to be understanding and relate to what's going on in the teen's life.

If teens see you succeeding in life using Christian principles, there's a greater chance that they're going to listen to your advice. Obviously the last thing you want is to be in a "Do as I say, not as I do" position. Teens don't expect you to be perfect, but they obviously have a hard time respecting people who are fake no matter what advice they're giving.

In addition to giving direct advice, it's important to give the "why" behind it. Something that on a surface level may seem restrictive to a teen should have a reason behind it that they can understand. It's also important to address the difference between disapproval in a behavior and disapproval in an entire person. The best thing to do is to correct or guide with an attitude of love behind what you're doing. You want a teen to know that you care, even when you don't agree with a behavior.

Encouragement in good decisions a teen is making is equally important, if not more so. Too many times adults focus on the bad side of the teen years, not the positive potential that's developing in them. Letting teens know that God puts dreams inside of them that they should pursue is important. I personally didn't know about this side of Christianity until after college, but God wants Christians to be wealthy, successful, and have peace and purpose in their lives. The stereotype (even given in school settings at times) that Christians are somehow not allowed to have fun in life is a lie. In fact life keeps getting better and better the more junk you let God weed out of your life, and as Christian adults we need to show that to teens.

Overall you just need to be there and be stable. Many teens have the kind of life where they're constantly being given conflicting messages, which can be very confusing. If you as an adult are level-minded no matter what the circumstances around you, that grabs their attention because of the fact you have direction and purpose in your life. I think just being aware of that can make a big difference in the lives of the teens around us.

Learn more about this author, Patricia Gilliam.
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