Youth Worker BOOST: Impulsiveness

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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“Every prudent man acts out of knowledge, but a fool exposes his folly.”—Proverbs 13:16

Do you find yourself doing things on a whim or at the spur of the moment? To make an extreme understatement, teenagers tend to be very impulsive. :) The interesting thing is that scientists think they know the cause. Not to get too ”Biology 101“ on you, but they think the issue stems from a lack of development in the brain's prefrontal lobes. Unfortunately, you can't go to the gym and grow this area through reps on the bench press or miles on the treadmill. Sometime a little before or around the age of 25, this area reaches full development.

So that explains teenagers. But what about us? What about those youth workers who are older than 25 but still act like we're “prefrontal lobe” deficient?

There are certainly times when impulsiveness can be a positive. It's equally as undesirable to live in a rut. But there's something about being a youth worker that lends itself to impulsive behavior of the negative variety. There are times we have to think and act quickly, sure. But in all my years of youth ministry my biggest mistakes came when I acted without thinking.

The writer of this proverb said that wise is a person who stops and thinks things through before taking action. That brief moment may just be all the time the Holy Spirit needs to give us His direction.

There's a spiritual steadiness in looking before you leap. Model it for your students. And apply it in the leading of your ministry.

Our prayer for you: Our prayer for you today is that you would learn the habit of slowing down long enough to prayerfully examine your next step, whatever that may be.

Look for a new Youth Worker Boost each Wednesday on the ym360 Blog.

Last Week's BOOST: The Rule Keepers

Next Week's BOOST: Today

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