How to Help Teens Renew Their Minds

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:1-2

When the apostle Paul penned these words to first-century Christians, the “pattern of the world” he referred to wasn’t pretty. It was a mosaic of idolatry, pride, selfishness, sexual immorality (including homosexuality), self-glory, ingratitude, greed, deceit, envy, drunkenness, hatred—and all other manner of deviation from God’s good plan for humanity.

Sound familiar? The “pattern of this world” the early Roman Christians battled is still a reality for our teenagers (and us). And the key to nonconformity is the same now as it was then:

…be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Part of our calling as leaders is to assist those in our charge in this transformation. It starts, of course, with pointing them to the Gospel—the good news of the forgiveness of our sins and eternal life with God when we put our trust in Christ. From there, it’s a lifelong process of sanctification—becoming more like Jesus as we obey the indwelling Spirit and saturate our minds with God’s Word.