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IF I WERE A YOUNG PERSON

Introduction: Ecclesiastes 11.9-10 Several years ago I was a teenager, like most teenagers I made my share of mistakes and avoided some. The saying of Mark Twain is true: "You have to learn from the mistakes of others because you don’t have enough time to make all of them yourself." Also the saying, "Youth is wasted on the young" has a ring of truth to it. I remember many older folks giving advice to me and my friends that usually started out "if I was your age I would…." The purpose of this lesson is to help those of this audience that are young avoid some common mistakes while making good choices. . Here are some things you can do that will make for a better life.

  1. I. I WOULD WORK TO FORM GOOD HABITS
    1. Jesus was a man of good habits, Luke 4.16
    2. "Habit" defined as "an action or characteristic that is often repeated."
    3. The more a habit is repeated the more it becomes a part of our character.
    4. Brushing teeth, saying yes mama or no mama. Etc.
    5. Habits may be good or evil.
    6. They reflect the kind of life we are living which reflects the choices we have made.
    7. If you have a habit of being sad or mad all the time that is because you have made that choice.
    8. Speaking the truth or lies, profanity or purity, Matthew 12.36-37; Col. 4.6
    9. Evil habits are easier to form than good habits.
  2. II. I WOULD WORK TO GET ALONG
    1. Jesus did, Luke 2.52
      2.
    2. Natural to want to be accepted – popular, the center of attention
    3. How do we accomplish this?
    4. Being the class clown, being disruptive, being a bully?
    5. Or, by integrity, showing respect toward others, using your abilities, and applying the "Golden Rule." Matthew 5.43ff
    6. Solomon’s law: "If you want a friend, show yourself friendly." Prov. 18.24
  3.  Not everyone should be your friend, 1 Corinthians 15.33
  4. III. I WOULD SEEK GOOD HEALTH
    1. Parents have told you to eat your vegetables, drink milk, get exercise, etc. 1 Corinthians 6.19;
    2. We live in the day of fast foods, and junk foods.
    3. The problem it taste good but we need more than French fries and a hamburger. Remember the basic food groups? 1 Corinthians 9.25-27
    4. There is more we can do (TAD)
    5. Avoid tobacco
    6. Hard habit to break
    7. Harms your body and those around you
       I have never known a smoker that wanted their children to smoke

      Avoid alcohol (Proverbs 20.1; 23.31)

      1. 1. 51% of alcoholics come from alcoholic parents
      2. 2. 50% of juvenile delinquents from alcoholic homes
      3. 3. Over 50% of auto fatalities linked to alcohol
      4. iii. Avoid drugs –sorcery (pharmakeia) the use of drugs, Gal. 5.19
      5. 1. We live in a drug induced society; some have been good and some bad.
      6. 2. Never take anything stronger than Tylenol or Ibuprofen unless instructed by a doctor.
      7. 3. Consider any one that offers you a drug to be dangerous.
      8. 4. Consider the way an addict feels and lives, avoid it.
  1. IV. I WOULD BE MORE SPIRITUAL MINDED
    1. What does being spiritually minded mean to you? Ecc. 12.1
    2. Some thing you do because your parents make you?
    3. An inconvenience, some thing pretty much out of touch with who you are?
    4. What kind of habits have you formed in worship? 1 Cor. 13.11
    5. Do you talk—sleep—pass notes?
    6. What kind of a student are you in Bible class? Prepared, indifferent, defiant
    7. Worship and spiritual activities should be important to you.
    8. One of the few times that you will study from the Bible.
    9. Be around Christians
    10. What happens when you misbehave in a class or worship?
    11. You fail to give God the reverence and respect He is due, Ps. 111.9
    12. You hurt your teachers
    13. You harm your fellow students
    14. You probably break your parents hearts
    15. You are responsible for what you can do! Proverbs 20.11
    16. Take notes during the lesson, open the song book and sing, pray, prepare for classes.
    17. If you are a Christian, take part in the worship, welcome the visitors.

Conclusion: You come to a fork in the road. There are two signs, one reads "happiness", and the other "misery." The good road represents forming good habits for God, and the other road misery represents forming bad habits. The choice is yours to make.

D.T. @ Westside Church of Christ 06.03.07

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