Kids

I'm grateful that life has direction. This wouldn't be the case if it weren't for the truth of the Gospel.

Last night I sat and talked with a young man, 15 years old, for a couple of hours and he asked me about life.

My life growing up was spent two-faced. A summary I like to give for my teenage years is that inside my home I said "shoot", outside my home shoot turned to shit. I spent my days as a chameleon. On Sundays I went through church motions, on Mondays I kept up with my friends, at soccer practice I fed my ego, and in the summers I did the same thing with the occasional church camp mixed in.

I completely ignored the pleas of adults in my life to stay away from sin and the consequences of it, or certain friends. I was selfish, ego-driven, and wrong.

This continued until I was in my 20's and I was broken. God allowed me to fall so deep in sin that I couldn't lift myself back up. It was messy, painful, embarrassing and it hurt. And I'm grateful.

After that fall, my life made sense in so much as it was a way for me to remember my mistakes and where they got me. A way for me to remember and point myself back to God and remember how it goes when I don't put the Gospel first. These were good things to know and to realize, but only part of the picture.

That's how it used to be. I've started to change. Titus 2:11-14 says, "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

What a joy! Now my life makes sense in my own pleas to this young man to renounce ungodliness! Turn from his sin and move towards life! As he shares his stories with me and his struggles I can plead with him and remember my pain, not for my own sake, but the Biblical mandate to train young men on how to become real men. To point him towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Those people, my parents and family--my church, weren't trying to ruin my fun or look down on me. They were telling me what they've learned. What they've learned about the real rhythm of the universe. I'm grateful for it.

Do you invest in the life of someone? You should. But only if you want to change your own.