SIX LIES THE DEVIL TELLS TEENS

From the Garden of Eden until today, the father of lies has continued his work to deceive mankind in order to try to usurp God. As children become teens, young adults in the making, the attacks increase. If he can destroy one's self image and dignity, then tremendous harm ensues. By realizing his lies and that he works from the same bag of tricks that he befits to each generation, we can recognize who is really bringing the attempted delusion and attack. Here are 6 big lies of the devil exposed.

1. The Lie: I have to be in constant communication by phone and internet.

• These marvels of modern technology have subtle strings attached. The internet and cell phone have made the world more connected and disconnected all at the same time. In being connected to people not present, it has also hurt many of the relationships with those present. The ability to text and be connected almost anytime and anywhere has been directly involved with more accidents than ever before and interruptions of work flow and thought processing that no other people in the history of earth has been involved in. The social stress to have the latest phone and be socially connected has put more pressure (including peer pressure) on young people than any other group ever. Addiction and obsession to phones has subtly become serious problems for many. With the all the marketing and advantages provided, many fail to be concerned about the potential physical dangers of the microwaves involved. As for the internet, it has gotten people to expect things instantly and the struggle for patience and concentration are more of a challenge than ever. Only God knows all the benefits and negative facets to this technology, but one thing is for certain, the benefits come with subtle pitfalls and the younger generations (and their parents) have to be more on guard than ever.
  

2. The Lie: My identity and worth come from other people.

• This is a total lie. God defines your value and the devil wants to distort it. If you have not taken in any of the many lies of having some form of social inadequacy, then don't! And if you did, spit it out! God does not make junk! Jesus died for you to live! If you hear God calling you out of the world, it shows His love. That calling out is the Holy Spirit sent to lead and guide you because God loves and values you! Your hair color, your likes and dislikes, talents and skills that are being developed, etc. Everything about you was designed on purpose to make you, the special you, that you are. One of a kind, like a snowflake only more precious than any other part of God's creation! You may not like everything about yourself but it does not stop God from treasuring You! He made you! And He did not make you to be somebody else. You would make a lousy somebody else; just be the great you that you already are and grow into your purpose. If you let God, He will guide you through every stormy and sunny day and all the in-between.

3. The Lie: My parents are stupid and don't care.

• If the devil can convince you of this, you are much easier prey. When children are born, their family life is their whole foundation. But as time passes, people eventually grow away from their parents and even siblings. And if the devil can get a young person mentally disconnected from the support, wisdom and love of their parents then they will look for support elsewhere; which can go like an old song says, looking for love in all the wrong places. Parents are not perfect and in fact many are struggling and frustrated. Does this mean they are stupid, worthless or not care? Of course not. It means they are human. And maybe they could even use some love and support. Conquer and divide is one of the oldest tricks of the devil.

4. The Lie: If you are still a virgin or not romantically involved with someone, then something must be wrong with you.

• Whew, this is an old trick of the subtle one. Just because you are not “sleeping around” does not mean something bad. It means something good. It means wisdom and integrity. Once one's virginity is gone, its gone. God will still help us even through our mistakes but if you still have it, hang on to it. And I pray that your spouse will hang on to theirs too. Love is beautiful and when two people discover what God has for them together (when married), that is the way it is meant to be. If one has lost it, just don't keep “giving it away” because today really is the first day of the rest of your life. God can forgive the past and give new strength for tomorrow. The devil wants us all to think that we have all made such bad mistakes that there is no hope for us. But not God! The Father was continuously looking for His wayward son in the story of the prodigal son to show us all, that we do not have to "live life in the pigpen," even if we messed up. Father God is always calling us home to Him. And as for that romantic love-life... When the right person comes along; you will know it. There is no specified time for finding someone worth getting involved with. There is another song that says, fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Be smart and stay smart. And if you mess up, get up and keep trying. We would not have many of the inventions of today if people just gave up on try # 4 or 44 or even 444. Being wise is a choice. When we fall down, we keep getting back up.

5. The Lie: You are just a teen, what can you know or do at your age?

• Never discount yourself because of your age. Now the devil wants you to think you are too young for some things but if you live long enough, he will try to convince you that you are too old too. Imaginary inadequacy is one of the devil's favorite tactics. You might also, according to the devil/destroyer: be too short, too tall, too pretty, too ugly, too skinny or too fat, too rich or too poor, too smart or too dumb, etc. The devil is a bully and if you let him, he would bully you to death. Literally. Know that God does not make junk. Where is the perfect human size or brain or age? If the devil can make a person feel inadequate, they give up and live in depression. That is why he is called the destroyer. Jesus on the other hand, came to bring you life and life more abundantly! And it is not boring at all! God does not lie or want to hurt His creation. Who ya gonna believe? A God who made and loves you or the destroyer, the evil one?

6. The Lie: If it feels good, do it.

• Whoa there, pardner. Sin may have short term gratification but it also comes with a price tag! We need to slow down and think before we speak and think before we act. As a matter of fact, we need to guard what we think and who we associate with. Just because a whole bus is selling tickets to jump of a cliff, does not mean we have to buy one. Sin separates us from God. "All sin" needs to be removed from our lives. There is huge joy in clean fun! There is huge joy in not getting into trouble! There is huge joy in doing things right, in making something of our time and efforts; in helping others do right too. Wide is the path that leads to eternal destruction but narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life. Strive to make it through the narrow gate! Life is a test and its not over until our time is up and nobody but God knows when that is. You may get a long one or you may be the one that gets it cut short! We need to always make the most of every day and not give it to the devil and his lies. Let's read in God's Word, the Bible and learn how God wants us to live to be truly successful.

Each of the subjects above have Scripture to go with them and a few additional thoughts listed below.

1. The Lie: I have to be in constant communication by phone and internet.

   The Truth: The only person that anyone of us needs to be in "contact with all the time” is God! And He is also the One to please.

Peer pressure says that the opinions of others matter; not God. The Lord says for us to be "online with Him and to honor Him with all our heart". The voices of friends should always be filtered through the Word of God.

Be online with God.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 ... pray without ceasing...

 

• Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Worldly “friends” should especially be in an outer circle (such as school, work, many relatives, etc.). And even Christian friends should never come before God.

• Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

Guard your life, including your life with having a phone and internet.

• 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits."

The person to stay close to every day and all day is: the Lord. We need more of listening to God and His calling than anyone or anything else.

• 2 Peter 2:9 ... the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment...

 

• Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Listen for the voice of God first, always and in all ways. In order to hear Him, we must be listening and that means putting Him first.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

Test everything. This pace of most of this world is fast moving. We must consciously slow down, think, listen to God and let Him direct our pace, our friends and all that we listen to or look at. We are each the summation of what God has given us and what we have taken in and the actions that we have chosen. There are many times in life, that we cannot affect this world but we can determine how it affects us!

• Luke 21:19 “By your patience possess your souls.”

2. The Lie: My identity and worth come from other people.

   The Truth: Your true identity and worth are found in the Lord and you are a treasure to Him.

• 1 John 4:9-10 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

• Romans 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

• Psalms 139:1-14 O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, "Surely the darkness shall fall on me," even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

3. The Lie: My parents are stupid and don't care.

   The Truth: While there are parents that are abnormal, the vast majority of parents care about their children.

Believe it or not, most parents want their children to have it better than they did. God designed the parent-children system, if you work with it, it will prove to be a blessing.

• Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you."

 

• Proverbs 1:8 Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.

 

• Proverbs 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon: A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

 

• Proverbs 23:25 Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.

 

• Proverbs 23:24 The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him.

 

• Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

 

• Colossians 3:20-21 Children, always obey your parents, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not aggravate your children, or they will become discouraged.

 

• 1 Peter 5:5-6 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you.”

 

• 1 Timothy 5:1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers.

4. The Lie: If you are still a virgin or not romantically involved with someone, then something must be wrong with you.

   The Truth: There is nothing wrong with keeping one's virginity and not being “romantically involved” before the time is right.

It is the right thing to do. Going with the crowd and the devil is the wrong direction, no matter what anyone else says. God's Word is the word that counts!

• Exodus 20:14 Do not commit adultery.

 

• Hebrews 13:4 Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.

 

• Matthew 5:27-28 "You have heard that the law of Moses says, `Do not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust in his eye has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

 

• 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Or don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

 

• 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor–not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and His ways. (See also Proverbs 5:15-21,6:24-25, Romans 13:13, 1 Corinthians 6:12-13)

 

• Colossians 3:5,12-15 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience… Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love… For as members of one body you are all called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

 

• 1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father -- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

 

• Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.

5. The Lie: You are just a teen, what can you know or do at your age?

   The Truth: You are not “just a teen” restricted by age; don't just look at what you cannot do yet, but look at what you can!

• Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”

 

• 1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity...

6. The Lie: If it feels good, do it.

   The Truth: If a sin feels good, don't do it! Instead, call on the Lord for help and run from it!

• James 4:7-8 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

The latter part of the next section of Scripture, explains how temptation can turn into sin.

• James 1:12-16 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

 

• Ephesians 5:3-7 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.

 

• Romans 6:22-23 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Lastly, these two are especially worth repeating:

• Philippians 4:13 I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.

 

• Jeremiah 29:11-13 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."
  

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Copyright 2016 E. Cockrell May be used for personal study or instruction but shall not be copied and/or distributed in whole or part without permission or for financial profit.