Youthfulness is a period in life

In the part one of this article, we lay a foundation of some of the challenges facing youth in society where the boundary between right and wrong is almost completely annihilate.  We also spoke about how young adults need to know how to discover and develop vision alongside their ordained destiny in order to make the right impact.  Understanding how to engage life at its various stages of development is highly important for teenager to survive in the 21^st century society.

Youth is that stage in life between childhood and manhood. This is a period in life where most teenagers generally view things from an exploratory viewpoint which most parents are clueless about. This stage must be precisely understood by the youths, parents and caregiver as one of the most important challenging aspects in human development. This period will eventually determine the outcome of a person’s future, so it must be handled carefully.  This period will eventually determine the outcome of a person’s future. Meaning, clear spiritual and mental insight is required to the characteristic of behavior at this point. Profiling this stage according to the revelation of the word of God will help the youth and parents alike to manage this transition in a less struggling paradigm.  What do I mean by this? Most teenagers grow up under the parent without them being truly known {identified} by their parents. The struggle of finding one’s identity in a vast pool of false identity, peddled by the media world can be a great challenge to any person who does not have the right parental value model.

Having said this, it is highly important for teenagers to be clearly aware that as much as their parents are given the core responsibility of properly raising them up, parents also might just be struggling with the same issue of insecurity, abuse and dysfunctional upbringing which most times affects their capability to function as parents.  I am aware that it might be very difficult for some of you to understand, but I presume that you as a Christian teenager need to understand the issues of all human dysfunctionality especially from a spiritual point. Humans, including Christian are all struggling with past failure and fears.  Irrespective of our age or stage in life, unresolved issues and challenges never pass. Time does not heal old wounds as they say if we refuse the entrance of the light of God’s word to penetrate and carefully deal with the strongholds.  We are all products of our social background. A background, mired in the old fallen Adamic nature. The more we become aware of our dysfunctional human nature and once we are ready to accept the right channel for redemption and transformation, the more precise our growth and development in becoming better humans.

The dawning of a new era

A new day is upon your life as a youth in this generation. If you allow yourself to be trained, skilled and empowered in this school of the Spirit, you will certainly gain the hedge of overcoming the hurdles and challenges of being a youth. When I say trained in the school of the Spirit, I am not suggesting some spooky religious activity men termed to be spirituality today. Allowing the Spirit of the Lord to train and empower you with the right mental and spiritual capacity means, you are required first to have a clear awareness of the Lords divine purpose and sovereignty over your life. In other words, you need to know that you do not belong to yourself irrespective of how or where you were born. You are owned by the Lord and he will gain the glory due to his name over your life in due time!

This statement might be very shocking for you to come to terms with due to the wrong upbringing. Many parents today do not have a clue concerning what it means to train up a child in the way he or she needs for growth because they are godless in their value and perception of existence. Millions of parents today are raising their children on the advice of media celebrities. A foundation of life based on humanistic idea can never lead to the accurate development of a child in becoming that respectful and honest teenager.   People want to live a life void of the influence and authority of their creator. This is impossible. God, our creator, did not design any of his creation, including man to exist without his direct influence over such a life.

To lay a solid foundation of how a teenager can successfully navigate the 21^st century new age godless culture, without God as the central theme of such foundation will certainly be misleading and destructive. I am very aware that the growing culture and strategy of the 21-century leadership community is to completely do away with everything that sounds or look godly to the view of the society. This plan of the enemy is targeted towards recruiting youth who will become future leaders. The battle line has been drawn in the spirit realm and you as a youth need to understand this, so you don’t become a tool in the hands of a so-called new age movement that refuses to acknowledge the existence of God and anything designed to bring peace and stability to the human soul. One of the most important things you need to come to terms with as a youth is to realize that the cravings of your heart is far beyond what material things can meet. Your heart will continue to cry in longing for fulfillment until you find rest in God and him alone.

The scheme of trying to replace God

In the effort to try to fill this vacuum in the 21^st century youth’s heart, most churches have adopted into their youth training program, life management curriculum program to help youth in resolving their problems. They have created some kind of Friday night Christian clubs where youths can get together to have fun. This they have done with the hope of replacing nightclubbing.  As wonderful as their motive may be, these programs still lack the spiritual force to imprint a lasting soul transformation value amongst young people.  Why?

Creating an alternative for God in the heart of humans all in the name of some so-called religious recreation on Friday night will never change the youth or bring the desired satisfaction to their famished soul. My duty, just as the duty of the apostolic patriarchs was, is to keep and preserve the ancient path of kingdom truth that transforms and reforms the core of all human hearts, including that of the youths. A truth not mixed with any form of human carnal wisdom is the only answer that can change the perception and desire of the youth.  As an apostolic believer, my core mission in this season is to see that all teenagers and youth are precisely introduced to the ancient tradition of faith, hope and love such that their destiny is discovered and fulfilled according to purpose. The values of godliness must return and be preserved in the hearts of the youth of this generation so that they can carry that holy tradition to the next generation.  It is of great importance that the precise knowledge and pattern of worshipping the Lord are kept for this generation.

The God factor in shaping your destiny

The battle of preserving the right spiritual atmosphere in every home and Christian fellowship ground is crucial if we are going to see the purpose and desire of the Lord for our youth development in these last days.  Knowing that the Lord has a plan for your life as an individual must go beyond a religious knowledge to a core revelational lifestyle of godliness and faithfulness. This spiritual information regulates your entire life’s decision. When you finally come to terms with the fact that nothing happens in your life without the divine permission of the Lord, you follow with the direction of the river of the Spirit. Knowing that the Lords divinely orchestrated how you came into this world can bring you quietness in times of pressure and identity crisis. Knowing also that your movement from point A to point B is divinely connected to the unfolding plans and purposes of the Lord for your life brings some kind of stability. Nothing happens to you by accident. Every person that come across your paths , good or bad, carries a divine impute in contributing to the shaping and development of your inner character and values in order to  fulfill your God given destiny.

This is what I meant by being trained in the school of the Spirit.   Now the question is have you inclined your ears to the inner voice calling for your enrolment in this type of training? No one in history ever fulfilled their ordained vision or dream without embracing their season of spiritual development and transformation. The grace {capacity} that comes through submitting your life on the altar of the Spirit gives you unprecedented acceleration towards your ordained destination. Bible icons like Joshua, Joseph David, Ruth, Mary to mention a few all give the precise pattern to how the youth of this generation can step into the area of leading their generation to the next position of relevancy.

This is the pathway and foundation of a meaningful life. These men and women all lived normal lives with extraordinary experiences that almost derailed their destiny.  All of them at a point had an experiential encounter with the Lord, not religion that brought them to their turning point. Unfortunately, today, many religious activities that are being peddled as the act of spirituality are driving people further away from the Lord including youths. Discouraging as this may be, you still need the foundation of your life to be solidly built on the core revelation of Christ, who is the accurate pattern {example} of all human existence. Moving away from religious, activity-based Christianity, to a relationship-based faith, will definitely enhance your revelational understanding of the Lord’s mind for your life.

Achievements cannot replay your need for God

As much as you need a good education as one of the important requirements in life, and I do advise you to do everything within your ability to get one if you can, but I need to remind you that your expertise and brilliancy in life will still not produce the desired satisfaction and fulfillment. Human life at best is not designed to be lived outside the ambiance of Christ governmental influence.  You do not have to agree with me, this is the plain truth.  If you look deep into your heart, you will notice that your unquenchable craving for alcohol, drugs, sex, crime, and gangster’s activities still does not satisfy the soul. Nothing satisfies your heart’s craving until the one who designs and created you in his own image and likeness is given his rightful place over the throne of your heart again.   To presume you will become anything outside His desired agenda and scrutiny is a big deception.   As a youth, I do understand that you are dealing with highly complex issues and challenge that requires your immediate, clear, direct and precise answer like yesterday. However, answering these very complex personal life-changing questions, are like sitting in a classroom where we are taught 2+2= 4. The classroom of life requires that we first learn to regain the Lords perspective to issues, and patiently develop the hearing ears, seeing eyes and understanding heart in approaching the question so we do not make a mistake. This is where the ministry of the Spirit comes to bear in assisting us. Does the Holy Spirit have all the answers to your question? Learning to depend on his guidance might take awhile but the moment you learn the act of listening and obeying him it becomes easy for you to navigate around difficult youthful challenges. Once you are positioned on this solid relationship with the Spirit of Christ no external pressure will easily control or entice you into doing things you do not want to do.

The truth is, if you do not have a close one to one relationship with your maker, you may not be able to live a full functional life. Mean, nothing you have, do or become will bring lasing fulfillment to your soul.

Time, your greatest treasure

Time is a priceless commodity we all take for granted until we are suddenly faced with the issue of death and life before we recognize its importance. Rich or poor, good or bad, we all have a free measure of time to carry out the Lords desired plans in the earth.   Just imagine if the Lord were to place a price tag on time, how much would you be able to afford to live by each day?  This is an important question we all need to think about over again, because they will help us measure the value we place on this precious eternal gift. You may not be rich in many things like gold and silver, yet your creator has given you just enough time to discover and fulfill your purpose of existence. Many have misused this precious gift to pursue things that further drive them away from the right course of life. Spending your God given time in trying to impress family members, friends and colleagues, without pursuing the core reason of your existence is like pouring water into an empty basket.

Opportunity to step into your future

The opportunity to envision and participate in shaping and developing the preferred future where youths become visionary leaders is here. The sociopolitical condition of the past decade incredibly shaped and impacted the consciousness of all humans in a way that requires strong leadership redirection. It will be an understatement to say the world has drastically changed and for anyone to be a key player in this new world order, he or she needs to be fully aware of the areas of change.   Productive life is solidly built on certain key values and visionary capacity that should inform and transform the concept of our views of engaging life’s most challenging areas.  There is no doubt that growing up in today’s kind of society where almost anything is permitted and acceptable, distorts your sense of responsibility and accountability.

The extreme of a democratic society without strong leadership values, produces a generation of families that loses the values of sound moral standard.  As youth, preparing for a future of stability and prosperity you must understand that the future does not happen by accident. Commitment, responsibility and determination to the course of your development set the stage for such manifestation.  The choices you make presently certainly determine and shape your future expectation.

As a young adult you need to precisely position in terms of making informed decision that contributes to the enhancement and development of society.  While the institutions, shoulder with the core responsibility to groom and create the right atmosphere for a productive visionary youth life seem to be collapsing without remedy, a new culture of responsibility and ownership must rise within the hearts of young men and women in determining their future. However, young adults today have the opportunity and resources required to shape their future and destiny in a positive way.  Choosing not to be influenced by the wrong company is one of the first and most important decisions that must be made.

Influence could be either used positively or negatively, depending on the one who gains its control.  The outcome of individual and corporate existence could be directly related to the power of influence. The influence of our parents, teacher, spiritual leader, friends and our childhood community all contributes to your development has a teenager. The lack of the right upbringing definitely increases the likelihood of being negatively influenced.  The society is an extension of the family. The family plays a very vital role in shaping and determining the type of society we live in just as religion, culture and tradition determine the believe system of each family.

The influence of our parents, caregivers and the immediate environment of growth play a role in determining the kind of person we’ve turned out to be. Follow the right steps that lead to a productive tomorrow.  The future is never an accident but the culmination of events both positive and negative we allow to guide and drive our lives. Since this article seeks to speak to the lives of youth who are in need of some kind of direction or advice, I will try as much as possible to be practical.  If you are reading this article, you must have passed several stages of your life where you have done things you are not proud of and if you are given another chance, you will like to amend them. Everyone in life, at a point, has been in that position of thought where we wished we had the power to undo the past. The truth is if you have the power to undo your past but still do not understand what made you say or do things irrationally, there is that possibility you will repeat the same mistake.

Today gives you the opportunity and capacity not only to learn from yesterday’s mistakes but also to help others become more aware of such wrong choices so they do not fall into the same wrong path. As part of being a young adult, there are enormous decisions and responsibilities waiting for you to be made. To say that most of you have not stumbled into these responsibilities will certainly be naive of me.  Before stepping into the arena of fulfilling those responsibilities, you need to acquire the right foundational skill and capacity; this includes information and education. Unfortunately, many have already stepped into fulfilling those responsibilities without solid based knowledge and wisdom.

Some might argue they do not have to be responsible for anything because no one was responsible for their life. That may be a fact, but the truth remains, how or where we are born does not exempt you from the challenges and responsibilities of life. You may not have had the chance of choosing your parents and where you grew up, yet there are countless choices you are expected to make in your adulthood that would not only influence your future family but the rest of the  society. Each stage of your life affects the next. Life is designed to function from different stage of development. Each stage contributes to the next stage. Whatever you have acquired as experience or information in your early childhood affects your view of life even at your teenage stage.  The growth stage process forms and determine the impact of development and transformation.  That is how life has been designed. We are all born to have some form of responsibility at every stage of development.  A new day has dawned upon the youth of this generation; the future is no longer predictable as it was in the past. Activities are taking place in the spirit realm, fight for the control of your soul and destiny.

A generation at the crossroad

There has never been a time in human history where the destiny of a generation is at such a risk like today’s generation. Everything in the natural realm is disintegrating due to the total collapse of what we have defined to be humanity. The theory of psychological social cohesion, designed to keep family and other social institutions running no longer work. When you listen to news, you wonder if there is an iota of hope for the youth of this generation. Things are deteriorating; both religious and political leaders seem to be running out of so-called managerial ideas. Resources are being mismanaged daily because they are not ready to deal with the core issues youth and teenagers are facing.  We live in one of the most spiritually blind generations since the birth of the Church 2000 years ago. This drastic shift in the spiritual atmosphere is negatively affecting both Christian and none Christian youth alike.

Putting the challenges of my teenage life’s experience into writing is one of the most difficult things I have ever done.  I guess it will only be fair to use myself as the specimen if I truly desire to reach the very core of this generation’s youth challenges. I do understand why so many spiritual leaders try as much as possible to avoid using their personal life challenges in dealing with these highly sensitive issues, like ministering to youth.  How can we sincerely bring love, direction, hope and transformation to millions of youth out there almost bleeding their life to death if we are not ready to be transparent?  I also understand that sometimes being open and transparent makes most people look weak and vulnerable, especially in a world where masculinity {strength} and the sense of being in control is highly respected and celebrated.

The truth is if anyone is going to enroll in the mission of youth development and transformation, they need to know that there is no silver bullet in handling their complex problem.  Most teenagers’ challenges are first parental related before they become issues of identity and insecurity. The lack of proper parenting or the issue of none existence of parents or the right caregiver are the basis of the challenges most youth inherits. We must be open, fair, courageous, sensitive and proactive in our actions.

My experience as a teenager

Looking back to my past experience gave me a life time opportunity to first see if indeed I have truly dealt with the past or if I am only pretending like most of us does. I knew I could not truly speak to the youth without carefully considering the world that shaped who and what I have become today. This is a serious issue. The world we all live in today no matter where you are under the planet is shaped by your past.

It’s amazing how we conclude on the issues of life when we get to a certain age bracket. One of the most exciting moments of my life as a youth, was when I gave my heart to the Lord in 1988 at the Christ Chapel international convention, Lagos, Nigeria.  For the first time, I experienced what it means to be loved and cared. Looking back at my past teenage years, I could say it was a challenging experience of various emotional battles.  The sense of loneliness, loss, insignificance to life, dominated my days of growing. Hatred so controlled my life that at a point, I contemplated suicide and the none-existence of God. There were questions bottled up in my heart concerning the issues of the faith, life, family, education and the future.

At a point, I thought of joining the Muslim faith, not because I really believed in the tenets of the religion but because the people who showed me some kind of care back then were of the Islamic faith, though I did not realize that people could show you care or love for their selfish agenda. Since my hunger to be affirmed grew stronger, that desire became the right platform for my Muslim neighbor to use in persuading me to their faith.  I searched intently to find some kind of identity. An identity I hoped will give me some kind of meaning and significance in my frustration and dissatisfaction.  I explored various passions of self-indulgence and emotional gratification to fill up the big gulf within my soul.

Every stage of human growth comes with their unique trials, fears and uncertainties that need precise understanding in handling them. Without the right awareness of what is taking place in and around your life we can become vulnerable to the negative voices that most time brings confusion and discouragement.  The enemy takes advantage of our ignorance, especially in areas of our social existence. It was just too difficult for me to fit into the world around me because of how I was made to see life. My teenage experience is an echo of so many youths out there seeking for some kind of guidance and direction from their parents who seem clueless about what teenage development is all about. This is one of the reasons why most young adult seem very isolated in their homes but amongst friends they are they seem to be the happiest people.  Even though this sense of happiness is short lived the rather spend their time with the friends.

To be continued