A friend recently sent me an article from www.Forbes.com that highlights a growing trend amongst tweens and teenagers… posting YouTube videos asking viewers whether or not they are ugly. (To read the complete article click on the following link: Click Here
Watching these videos is heartbreaking. Reading various viewers comments is even more gut-wrenching…
“You are SO pretty, it’s not even funny. Love your body…”
or
“Yea your ugly as hell, just go ahead and end your life. You’re going to die alone”
Something is horribly wrong. Our young people are so hungry for validation that they are opening their hearts to the applause and criticism of the masses. Their search for significance is so desperate that complete strangers now have a say in their value.
These are OUR young people. Not someone else’s. They are our cousins and nieces and nephews and little sisters and brothers and daughters and sons. They are our responsibility and future. Jesus has given His life on the cross for each and everyone of them, and it is His sacrifice alone that determines their eternal value!
And for one reason or another, the message hasn’t been received. We are witnessing a generation destroying their purpose at the altar of pop culture. They are so void of love and hope that their potential is being prostituted to the highest bidder.
Every teenager in our world RIGHT NOW is asking the question, “Why do I matter? Am I really loved? Do I have a purpose?”
They are aggressively and intentionally searching for answers. Someone or something will give it to them, even if we as the Church fail to.
Pornography. Ecstasy. Sexual experimentation. Binge drinking. Self-harm. Abusive relationships. Eating disorders. Skepticism. One night stands. Perfectionism. Isolation.
It seems to me that the enemy of our souls is aggressively out to steal, kill, and destroy a generation…
…And he is counting on the Church not to do much about it.
I say- enough is enough! Too long has Satan preyed on the hurts and heartbreaks of an orphaned generation. It is time for the Church to take a stand and offer hope, love, and truth to a generation purposed and destined by God!
We must choose to love and sacrifice for this generation. It’s time they know how loved, valued, and purposed they are by Jesus. And they’ll only ever know if we begin showing them by our own actions towards them…
We have to show up for them. We have to care for them. We have to sacrifice for them. We have to believe in them.
I’ll finish this post with this:
To those young men and women asking the question, “Am I ugly?” please know without a doubt that you are fearfully and wonderfully made, handcrafted by God Himself… You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. And you are not forgotten. You may have experienced heartbreak. Your dreams may have been shattered. You may have been rejected or abandoned by ones you’ve loved and betrayed by those you’ve trusted.
But you, my dear friend, you are not a victim of your past. You are not just another face in the crowd. You are not worthless. You are not stupid. You are not ugly. You are not fat. You are not a failure.
You are a son or daughter of the Most High God. There is no one and nothing more valuable to the heart of God than YOU. In fact, you are so very valuable and significant that the Son of God, Jesus, (not some religious man of folklore, but the real human AND divine Jesus) willingly gave His own life just to have a real, authentic relationship with YOU.
You are loved and valued by Jesus, and it is through faith in Him that you can discover your real identity, and your real purpose… which is far greater than you could ever imagine.
My life mission, and that of the Church is that you know and experience the love and purpose God has for you. To this very end we labor.
And please know, that no matter what, we won’t ever stop believing in you!
