Mentoring today’s youth,

Tomorrow’s leader

Introduction

This article is written with the view that it will imprint upon the hearts of today’s contemporary youth, the precise perspective and value standard that enhances a well-balanced life developmental principles. Building a proactive attitude towards your personal or family life development will certainly foster a positive mentality, motivated by vision, purpose and direction, in a world shaped by contradictions and misguided values. Seeking to build on a solid moral foundation should be the core drive and purpose of any youth, desiring to contribute immensely to the advancement and transformation his or her generation.  The issue of navigating the challenge of teenage development in a society driven by an unethical standard of enrichment has continued to hinder the process of accurate definition of youthfulness.  The Hollywood concept of stardom and heroism, paints a false picture to how life is designed to function within the minds of the young adults.  The craving for identity and acceptance in today’s society is leading millions into an adventure of extremity and great danger. In the pursuit of self-discovery without the evidence of fatherhood and leadership competence in helping teenagers discern between illusion and reality has also cause many to have blindly fallen into unnecessary trap of deception.

The dysfunctionality of the society through the breaking down of all forms of moral value standards is a wakeup call for all to return to the basis of human dignity, respect and selflessness in helping others achieve their God given destiny.  Crimes related to youths are committed based on being pressurized to prove or defend their allegiance.  In other words, the challenge of self-acceptance has continued to push innocent youths into the broad-way of self-destruction. When we directly or indirectly create a false image that says, it is fine to be controlled and manipulated by stronger force like media propaganda, we lay the base for a powerful spirit of deception and delusion within the minds of teenagers.  The media can be a powerful tool in influencing and shaping the development of teenager’s lives if they allow more programs that promotes moral value content.

The battle of identity

Not knowing who you are, and what you have been pre-designed to accomplish here on earth could be very frustrating in a society where everyone is seeking to clone you into his or her desired image and purpose. defining your originality is a powerful weapon all youth needs to arm themselves with in order to break the pressure and influence of false identity. Life can be exiting if only we have the precise blueprint to how we have been designed to live and function here on earth.

Most people are still struggling with the fundamental question of who am I? Where do I come from? Why am I here? Why was I born a girl or boy? Why was a raised by a single parent? Is it OK to be gay or a lesbian?  Which is the right religion of all the various religions in the world? Where do I go when I die? These are some of the questions in the minds of most teenagers they needs answers. Becoming an adult in a world where the boundary lines between right and wrong, good and evil is almost none-existing makes it even more difficult for youngster to get the precise answer to their question, which invariably affects their ability to make well-informed decisions in life.

The scarcity of visionary leaders {matured and resourceful humans} in our time, is grossly affecting the succession plan of leading the next generation.  It is important that I emphasis here that what is needed now is not another leadership training program, as important as they maybe. The youth of this generation needs godly men and women with whom they can relate their daily life challenges without them been judged. This is what I call a true leader, not people with the right informational ‘know how’ of leading, yet completely detach themselves from the challenges the youths are facing. No theoretical training program can replace your direct involvement in the process of transformation. Going back to the biblical pattern of human existence will correct the abnormalities we see today in the life’s of the youth. We need to draw out the principles and values God gave man from the beginning of his creation so we can have peace and prosperity in the society.  Please note that i am not talking about religious order that is completely detached from life and reality. Jesus walked this earth, related to different types of people through the wisdom of God in his life to help them see and overcome their challenges. This material seek to apply some of these key principle and values in addressing the problem of today’s youth.

The objective

One of the objectives of this material is to awake and motivate parents, mentors and other relevant stakeholders in their assigned responsibility of building the right platform of dialoguing, motivating and intervening in the complex challenges of growing up and developing the necessary human ethical system. The issue of ethical moral value cuts across boundaries, racial and cultural standards, traditions, religious belief and gender. Having said this, this article is solidly built on the philosophy of Christ teaching. Our Lord’s teaching speaks to both parents and youth on how they can strategically triumph over the various forms of dysfunctional upbringing.

Throughout the scripture, we see the pattern and method he used in dealing with issues of identity crisis, rejection, fear and compromise. His life and ministry represents the blueprint of breaking barriers and limitation society places on youths.  We can confidently source vision, motivation, courage, and direction from his pattern of existence. In navigating the complex challenges of youth life, you need to precisely connect to the core values and standards that enhance development and productivity at all levels.   Arguably, King Solomon is accepted to be one of the greatest Kings Israel ever produced. History records his ground breaking architectural achievements. His insight, wisdom and profound understanding of poetry and nature are compared to none. King Solomon was known for is his exceptional insight to human philosophy.  Reading book of proverbs and songs of Solomon will immediately give grasp of the well of knowledge the Lord endowed him with.    If anyone has the authority to directly speak into the life of humans, especially the young people today, it will definitely king be Solomon.  Solomon is seen a typology of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament.

Eccl 12:1-3

Solomon 12:1 Don’t let the excitement of being young cause you to forget about your Creator. Honor him in your youth before the evil years come-when you will no longer enjoy living. 2 It will be too late then to try to remember him when the sun and light and moon and stars are dim to your old eyes, and there is no silver lining left among your clouds. 3 For there will come a time when your limbs will tremble with age, your strong legs will become weak, and your teeth will be too few to do their work, and there will be blindness too.TLB

Unfolding stages

The human life unfolds in various stages, each stage, from the cradle to the old age comes with highly complex and challenging personality shifts. These shifts require a well-balanced spiritual and psychological knowledge in handling its transition.  It is exciting to discover that key leaders in the field of neurosurgery are aggressively exploring and discovering new dimensions in the field of human personality traits that proves that the human soul is the central point of behavior. Leaders in this field, are not only acknowledging the existence of the human soul, outside the independence of the brain, but are also connecting their present findings to ancient biblical truth that precisely defines the soul as the core formation of all human personality.

This is great because psychology, as we know it today, based most of its studies, theories and findings on the mere observation of the fallen {sinful} human nature, which most time is predictable under extreme pressure and circumstance. In other words, when you put humans no matter how well trained under certain emotional or physical pressure, they tend to show their true color, to define people through this narrow view is to undermine the true definition of human being. This inaccurate foundation of discovering the nature of man has hampered how human sees themselves and the society in the general.

The accurate biblical study of man and his behavioral pattern gives a broader spectrum of human nature, which clearly gives precise and accurate definition of his complex nature and the way of redemption. Moving from past myopic perception of human nature is definitely redefining the platform of studying humanity, especially teenagers and youths alike. King David certainly understands this limitation of the fallen human nature. In his Godly wisdom, he was able to discern the sinful nature of all humans. There is no way we can begin to tackle the challenge of today’s youth without identifying the foundational dysfunctionality of man. Ps 51:5-6: Surely, I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. NIV

Children are born into the world innocent but not sinless. In other words, the fallen human nature affects the child’s perspective as he or she grows up if parents are not spiritually aware of this inherent fallen nature. Shaping the destiny of a child is beyond giving all the good things of life. Laying the proper definition of behavior is the first and most important value any child need as foundation to development. The responsibility of educating and imparting the necessary values and ethical standards in children builds within them the ability to be discipline and independent.  Every child is born with the intuition of expecting to be love and care for. When this inherent assignment of nurturing are ignored or not properly carried out by parent, it affects the Childs emotional balance and intelligence. This further impend the personality development of the child, which might later lead to social dysfunctional if not corrected on time. The mission of parents as caregivers is to imprint the nature of love and self-discipline that enhances the child personality character when facing life-intimidating challenges. This is what David was passing across to us as followers of the way of truth. Growing in this new season as a teenager will require you to seek biblical values and principle that will not only accelerate your development but that can also give you the necessary prophetic insight to navigate these invisible pothole waiting for you.

The process of development

Developing the right vision and the capacity to advance in the midst of contradictory models, we need clear spiritual sight to comprehend how the Lord intends life to be lived. Life which include yours cannot be lived as you deem fit, it must be in accordance to divine order and pattern. Just as various stages of human development carry a specific assignment, so is the stage of being a youth.   Being a youth is a calling from God, just as being a father, mother or teacher are all callings with specific assignments. These categories of human life, helps in imparting values that enhances precise development at every stage of human development. A calling from biblical definition is a specific vision {agenda} with clear objectives to be fulfilled by individuals. What I am saying is your youthfulness is not just another stage of existence without purpose. Your teenage season carries a mission that requires your energy, adventure lifestyle and the ability to be resourcefulness. These abilities and potential requires a person with the right leadership capacity in helping to train and deploy great human resource in various area of the society.

The three Hebrew boys in the Bible were born free in their homeland until they were taking captive, some at the age of 17 to Babylon where they had to prove to a godless society, their faith, love and hope in the God of their Fathers. The society is the stage or theater you are giving as to display what you believe, irrespective of popular idea or opinion.  Showing forth the knowledge of the glory of God in a pervert and a wicked world is a core purpose for all youths.  If you are in your youth stage, you must clearly understand the pressures and dynamics of the stage lest you miss you are taking advantage of by the lack of right information.  Your season as a youth is one that characterize the revelational knowledge of the Lord according this foundational scripture Eccl 12:1-3