Have you ever said to yourself, “I’m too young to really do anything about _______ .”? (Fill in the blank with whatever you think the biggest problem is.)
That’s exactly what generations of young people have said as they went back to doing whatever the rest of the crowd was doing. This “herd mentality” won’t get you very far in life.
It may encourage you to know that God has always used young people to spark big change.Consider:
King Josiah was eight years old when he became king of Judah. By the time he was a teenager, he had matured into a solid leader, and by age 20, he led a major spiritual reform.
As a college student, John Wesley started his “holy club” with his brother Charles. He was passionate about reforming a spiritually dead Anglican church. By the time he was 176 he founded the organization that later became the Methodist denomination.
Charles Spurgeon was a well-known pulpit orator when he was just 16 years old. He was only 21 when he became pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, where he spoke to crowds of 10,000 people.
Bill Gates. His mom bought him some used electronic equipment at a garage sale. He was only a teenager at the time. By the time he was 19 he formed Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen.
Are you like John Mayer… (just “waitin’ on the world to change“) – or are you being a part of the answer for change in the world?
You can waste your teenage years and college experience with excuses, or you can start today.
As Andy Stanley says, “Your direction, not your intention determines your destination.” Don’t waste your life!
Think about it.
[For more on this topic see the The Rebelution Blog or DontWasteYourLife.com. I borrowed some of my examples of of young people who made big impacts from Tim Elmore of Growing Leaders. Check out his resources! ]