Youth Worker BOOST: A Perspective On Sin

ym360 knows youth workers. We know what an incredibly rewarding, yet incredibly challenging job youth ministry can be. There are days when your spirits are sky-high, and there are days when you could use a bit of a “pick me up” from God's Word . . . That's why we're happy to offer Youth Worker Boost, one of the many valuable resources on the ym360 Blog.

Boost is a short, weekly piece of encouragement designed to, well, “boost” your spirits and encourage you as you minister to students. We consider it yet another great opportunity to serve you and your ministry.

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"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."--Matthew 7:3-5

Would you feel confident taking some monetary advice from a financial planner who had to declare bankruptcy? Or hire a lawyer who had been disbarred?

Advice from people who struggle in their area of expertise usually is not very good advice.

We have that problem. Jesus didn't. Jesus often dealt with religious leaders who loved to offer spiritual advice even though they refused to deal with their own spiritual issue of sin. Some people think Jesus' plank illustration is speaking to perspective; our sin, when place right in front of our eyes, looks bigger. wOthers say Jesus was talking about the amount or degree of sin. Whatever the interpretation, the idea is a powerful one: how are we supposed to talk about sin in the lives of others and ignore our own? Sin is a big topic when it comes to teaching and counseling teenagers. You don't have to be perfect to teach on it. Just make sure you are correctly dealing with your sin before offering advice to other's on how to deal with their sin.

And more than anything, put the attention on God's Word as it teaches us how to contend with sin.

Our prayer for you: Our prayer is that you would contend with sin in a way that leads you closer to God, and gives you more authority to speak to your students about dealing with sin in their lives.

Last Week's BOOST: You're Not Alone

Next Week's BOOST: Instant Gratification

Get more BOOST articles HERE!