{"id":1415,"date":"2013-12-27T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2013-12-27T15:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mtvpastor.com\/?p=1415"},"modified":"2013-12-27T09:00:53","modified_gmt":"2013-12-27T15:00:53","slug":"3-7-things-i-wish-i-could-tell-every-high-schooler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/3-7-things-i-wish-i-could-tell-every-high-schooler\/","title":{"rendered":"#3: 7 Things I Wish I Could Tell Every High Schooler"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

originally preached to students at my church, apparently these thoughts struck a chord with more than just Columbus teens:<\/em><\/p>\n

I recently had the privilege of speaking to our teenagers at Mt Vernon Church. In that talk I shared \u201c7 Things I Wish I Could Tell Every High Schooler.\u201d Here are the seven things:<\/p>\n

1. Once you graduate from high school, you\u2019ll be amazed at how little you care about those high school friends you spent so much time trying to impress.<\/b>\u00a0I guarantee you, you\u2019ll look back at all those hours wasted trying to impress the \u2018cool kids\u2019 as wasted time. Don\u2019t give into peer pressure to impress people you won\u2019t really care about five years from now.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0<\/strong>Drinking doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re cool; it just means you have a problem making dumb decisions.<\/b>\u00a0The alcohol industry spends $2 billion a year in advertising getting people to drink. Why? Because they want you to become addicted (which means more money for them). If you\u2019ve got a mom or a dad who drinks too much, I know that you don\u2019t think it\u2019s very cool that they\u2019re wasted all the time. But I guarantee you, they probably thought they were the \u2018cool kids\u2019 in high school because they broke the rules. Don\u2019t go down that path. It\u2019s not worth it.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

3. 98% of your high school relationships won\u2019t last past college.<\/b>\u00a0The average marrying age (in MS) is 26 for guys, 25 for girls. Chances are that your high school relationship won\u2019t be the person that you marry. So don\u2019t act like you\u2019re married! Don\u2019t ditch your friends, don\u2019t change who you are. Most importantly, don\u2019t give up pieces of yourself that you intend to save for your real spouse one day.<\/p>\n

4. Every sexual mistake you make now destroys intimacy with your future spouse.\u00a0<\/b>I know you\u2019re curious, I know you\u2019re tempted, and I know that all those Hollywood actors make pre-marital sex seem cool, but don\u2019t do it. I\u2019ve counseled with hundreds of teens who\u2019ve made sexual mistakes. ALL of them regret it. How many people do you want your future spouse to sleep with before they get to you? Then behave in the same way.<\/p>\n

5. You\u2019ll start acting like an adult when you want to. Adulthood is a choice.\u00a0<\/b>Adulthood is not automatic. You don\u2019t become an adult when you turn 18, 21 or even 30. You become an adult when you start acting like it. The myth of adolescence has lured generations of Americans to waste decades of their lives. I know some 14-year-olds that are more mature than 35-year-olds. Adulthood is a choice.<\/p>\n

6. The most important ingredient to getting ahead in life is hard work.\u00a0<\/b>It\u2019s really that simple. Most people don\u2019t have the determination and discipline to see things through. So that I don\u2019t get lumped in with a former presidential candidate, I won\u2019t say that 47% of Americans are lazy, but the principle behind those remarks isn\u2019t that far off. If you want to get ahead in life, work hard. Most people aren\u2019t willing to put the time and energy into it, leaving more for you.<\/p>\n

7. God wants to use you RIGHT NOW to change your world.\u00a0<\/b>Many of the world\u2019s revivals have been started by teenagers. Who says the next one can\u2019t be started by you? I love what\u00a01 Timothy 4:12 says,\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.\u201d\u00a0<\/i>Live that out, and watch what God does through you.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

originally preached to students at my church, apparently these thoughts struck a chord with more than just Columbus teens: I recently had the privilege of speaking to our teenagers at Mt Vernon Church. In that talk I shared \u201c7 Things I Wish I Could Tell Every High Schooler.\u201d Here are the seven things: 1. Once […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2490,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[649,1283],"class_list":["post-1415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-high-school","tag-sermon"],"yoast_head":"\n#3: 7 Things I Wish I Could Tell Every High Schooler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"originally preached to students at my church, apparently these thoughts struck a chord with more than just Columbus teens: I recently had the privilege of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/newwineskins\/3-7-things-i-wish-i-could-tell-every-high-schooler\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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