These are challenging times for young people.
Children, teenagers, and young adults today have access to more information about human beliefs and behavior, both the good and the bad, than at any other time in the history of our Earth.
But the messages they receive from parents, teachers, role models, peers, the Internet, media conglomerates, and religious organizations can often be contradictory and confusing.
Consider the dilemma of the average modern adolescent girl. Her parents tell her she will have to get good grades in school if she wants to have a good life.
But the chart-topping songstress she worships, scantily clan in a scorching music video, and the bare-chested, glistening, rap-master prancer impress her with the importance of being “hot” and “sexy.”
Her peers, and a guy she met online, amplify the pop culture message.
And the witchcraft community assures her that it's perfectly okay to explore being weird and rebellious and open to being entertained by vampires, demons, zombies, warlocks, and an endless assortment of super-negative beings that will never help her find her way to Heaven.
The pastor of her church, however, teaches that living a hot and sexy life can cause people to end up in eternal hellfire. But, because the girl’s atheist science teacher has undermined the pastor’s overall credibility on numerous occasions, the impact of the preacher's warning is minimal.
And then there’s the message that women should be more like men: fighting wars, flying planes, driving big rigs, working construction jobs, and doing whatever it takes to prove that females can compete with men.
If the bombardment of conflicting information starts to overwhelm the girl, or if she begins to feel hopelessly inferior to the sexy media images she’s competing with, a variety of drugs, legal and otherwise, are available to help her cope with the stress of uncertainty.
And, like other girls seeking to create an acceptable image of self during a critical phase of development, she is at risk of succumbing to an eating disorder, self-mutilation, or other self-destructive behavior.
It is a tragedy that individuals and organizations that seem to be more concerned with advancing their own agendas than they are with the welfare of young women have been allowed to become so influential in shaping their values.
And what about today’s young men? Are their challenges comparable to those faced by young women?They too are given various, inconsistent examples of what constitutes success in the modern world.
The most notable difference between boys and girls today seems to be that, while the majority of girls want to be hot and sexy, a lot of young guys want to be slick and tough. Slick enough to “get paid” like the “ho-pimpin’,” “dope-slingin’,” “Benz-drivin’” rap video star, or the “bad boy” celebrity. Tough enough to command respect.
And, in all fairness, it should be noted that, for boys who aren’t into guns, gold teeth, and backward baseball caps, there is a whole separate category of “slick” role models: a seemingly endless supply of well groomed politicians, corporate executives, and lobbyists that would loot the resources of hard working families without blinking an eye.
Understandably, certain young men are more impressed by these mega-pimps than they are by a guy whose “bling” represents a substantial portion of his net worth.
While the threat of impressionable young minds falling under the influence of negative personalities might be considered to be an unfortunate by-product of modern society, it is, in fact, an age-old problem.
Long before the birth of Jesus, King Solomon, in the Old Testament of The Bible, recorded this message in the 1st chapter of Proverbs:
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause… We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
"My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.”
This message is as timely now as it was when it was written: do not follow in the footsteps of negative people!
In modern vernacular, this warning could have come from a father or mother raising a son in a present day, urban, gang-infested neighborhood.
The problem today is that parents find it increasingly more difficult to combine the advice they give their children with effective supervision. Some, because they aren’t familiar with modern communications options, and don’t know who their impressionable children are spending time with.Others, because they are distracted by more urgent responsibilities, like earning a living.
And so the message to young people today is that they will have to take a more active role in their own generation’s spiritual advancement.
Waiting for adults to lead them could quite possibly result in continuing increases in violence, crime, drug use, unwanted pregnancies, poverty, suicides, school dropout rates, and a number of other threats to the progress of young people.
If they are to play a significant role in their own salvation, young people will have to put forth a special effort, both collectively and as individuals, to initiate and maintain contact with the part of themselves that helps every human being differentiate between what is right and what is wrong.
Prayer offers the most efficient means of getting in touch with this special inheritance from God.
Young women may have to lead the way. A good starting place for them would be to pray for guidance in re-evaluating their seemingly obsessive attraction to the “bad boy” image. What could possibly be so irresistible about a guy that is most likely to give a female the least amount of respect?
Females are often quick to say they don’t have much control over things. In the case of males, however, they have a lot more power than they give themselves credit for.
For instance, what would probably happen if boys in honor programs, or those who openly strive to further the will of God, started getting a lot more female attention than common street thugs? An historic fact is that males will be as good as they have to be with women. High expectations generally inspire high quality performances.
Females are the foundation of civilization, make no mistake about it. Had the challenges of creating stable homes and nurturing children been assigned to men during the dawn of enlightenment, the human race would probably have become extinct a long time ago.
But, along with the honors of being acknowledged as the founders of civilization, women must also address the responsibilities of making sure that the moral foundations of humanity remain sound. Like a wise man once said, "Hoochies are for flings, good girls are for life."
Women who adhere to a high standard of personal behavior, and who encourage their significant others to do the same, help make the world a better place.
And the opposite is true: the less a woman invests in maintaining her standards, and the less she requires from her man, the less she and the rest of society will benefit.
In other words, if a man's woman will accept him as an abuser, a bum, or a thief, why should he be concerned about what the rest of the world thinks of him?
To further ensure spiritual progress for the current generation of young people, I would encourage every young man and woman to develop a passion for something early in life that will not only allow them to prosper, but also make it possible for them to provide meaningful assistance to the less fortunate.
And I would say to young people, in concluding this message, that, when you become discouraged in attempting to reach your true potential, do not lose faith in our Heavenly Father, or yourselves.
Even when success seems unattainable, no matter how hard you try, do not give up, and always remember that God fully understands the huge challenges His children face on Earth, and that He will always cherish your sincere efforts to become assets to humanity as much as He appreciates your positive results.
Wishing you all Love, Peace, Health, and Prosperity.
© 2016 Paul Howard Nicholas
