Parenting Points
In the mind of every teenager echoes a simple question: “Am I enough?” One of the greatest struggles of the teenage experience is determining who they are, where they fit, and if they matter. Students seek to be cool enough, smart enough, athletic enough, popular enough, or successful enough. No matter what area they seek to win the battle “to be enough,” they will still wonder if they are truly enough.
The battle to be enough has been quantified and magnified through social media. Students no longer have to wonder where they stand in the areas of enough. They can simply open an app to see who got the most “likes” on their picture or who was invited to the party with all the popular kids. Social media takes the social and strivings for enough from simply happening in the classroom or on the ballfield and puts them in every moment of life that a student holds on a phone. For many students, the struggle for enough constantly stays at the very forefront of their minds. Here are three truths that you can share with students in your world who are amid the battle “to be enough”:
Your Identity Comes from Being Made in God’s Image. Your student needs to be reminded that God made them just the way that they are. They have been given special gifts and been made for God’s special purpose. They matter to God, and He is their true source of value.
Jesus Died to Be Your Enough at the Cross. At the cross, Jesus became our enough. Your student can never be perfect or achieve their own salvation by their own good performance, but Jesus lived the perfect life that they couldn’t live. He died on the cross in their place. When God looks at your student, He doesn’t see their imperfect record, but Jesus’ perfect record in their place.
Culture Doesn’t Define Your Value. The values of culture are constantly changing. It is an endless game with no clear road to success. Remind your students that to play the cultural value game will always end in a loss. Their status before God and their value that comes from a relationship with Him is the true source of their value.
The One who created the world and reigns over all has spoken value, life, and identity into your student. When the culture challenges us to look toward others for our value, let us remind the students in our lives to simply look up to the God who reigns on the throne over all.
Dr. Ben Birdsong
Minister of Students and Meadow Brook Baptist
Writes and blogs at www.benbirdsong.com
