by Victoria Tiegert

Created on: May 02, 2008   Last Updated: February 14, 2011

Christian teens in America face a great challenge. They are called by God to be set apart from the world, in but not of the world, and an unusual people. This can be very difficult for many Christians, adult and teen alike, as they are living in a society full of mediocrity and hypocrisy. The youth of America face many problems that are unique to them alone.

The media provides them with an onslaught of unattainable goals and immoral behavior examples. Eating disorders among young women are at an all time high as the standard that the media sets for their weight shrinks increasingly lower. They are able to turn on the television and watch unrealistic "reality" programming that features all the most beautiful people living lives that are full of every manner of sin. Very few wholesome role models are available for today's teen.

The "popular" music blasting from their radios is full of lyrics that are promiscuous, angry, and vulgar. This is being fed into their minds daily. Garbage in, garbage out really seems to explain the problem with this.

Peer pressure is an often overwhelming problem for all but the very strongest of personalities. Teens want to fit in and have a special group of friends that they relate to and socialize with. The pressures to have sex, use drugs and alcohol, speak negatively or foolishly, carry themselves in a manner not befitting a Godly person, and dress immodestly, are present everywhere they turn.

Society's standards have gotten lower and lower as to what is considered moral. As we take the lives of our unborn with barely a thought, how can our teens hold onto the sacredness of human life, be it their own or that of others? Sexual immorality abounds, from advertising to technology, even to the leaders of our country and churches. The purity of teens is threatened on a daily basis.

We seem to be failing at raising up a generation of people who value themselves. Low self- esteem is rampant. Have we neglected to teach our young people that they were fearfully and wonderfully made by God Himself? Teens today often do not realize who they are through the work of Christ, a royal people, children of the most high God. When our youth do not value themselves, they are set up for every sort of failure and are much more likely to fall prey to the temptations around them.

Our public school system is teaching these children all about evolution, while contradicting brazenly the Word of God. They are taking on the responsibility to inform children about birth control, while quickly skimming over abstinence as though they would never expect a teen to have the inner strength to retain their virginity for their future spouse. Teachers are having affairs with students and often only receiving a slap on the wrist in return. This is the establishment where many of our Christian teens are spending a majority of their waking hours.

The Bible commands us, as parents, to "raise up a child in the way he should go". We need to raise them by example, as well as by instruction. It is our responsibility to teach our teens the ways of the Lord, not an easy task with the overwhelming amount of contradiction to these ways offered by the secular world. This involves time, love, and a careful look at our own lifestyles, but the end result will be a spiritually healthy adult that will last far longer than the tumultuous, challenging years of adolescence.

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