By Chip Borgstadt

If you want to change the lives of youth, you need to model a life changed by the power of God.

If you want to grow tomatoes, you don’t plant onions. The same principle applies to lifegiving youth ministry: If you want to change to lives of youth, you need to model a life changed by the power of God. Here are seven habits that will bring about a harvest of changed lives.

1. Time with God is a priority. Worship is one part of this time with God. Lifegivers need to follow Jesus’ example and find a place for spiritual renewal. Lifegiving youth ministry benefits from such investment in a personal relationship with God.

2. Self-care is essential. Youth ministry involves some self-sacrifice, but effective lifegivers know that they cannot give what they do not have. You can’t give support to a youth and his or her family when your own home is disrupted. You can’t listen to a young person when you are falling asleep. God has given us human limitations so that we will not become self-sufficient but will rely upon the Spirit for wisdom and strength when helping others.

3. Praying for youth keeps our focus sharp. Pick five young people to pray for each week. Write their names in a notebook and make note of your prayers for them. Ask God to bless their daily lives, to surround their families with love, and to help you be a channel for God’s grace.

4. Study of God’s Word provides insight. Our natural responses often are not the same as God’s. We need to be “transformed by the renewing of [our] minds” (Romans 12:2). Daily Scripture reading shapes our lives.

5. The best gift you give is yourself. Lifegiving relationships are possible when you are truly present with young people. That happens when you leave daily work concerns behind and listen actively to what youth say. Such presence is frightening unless both you and the youth have invested time in getting to know one another.

6. Connecting youth to community builds their esteem. Lifegivers who use their relationships to foster community involvement of youth foster growth in many ways. Community connections can be as simple as inviting youth to be involved in planning and developing service opportunities where young people make a difference in the lives of others. Young people have something to offer. With a little encouragement, they can make significant contributions.

7. Looking for God in life’s challenges helps others believe. How do you make sense of life’s circumstances? When we include God in the overall picture, our response to challenges is steeped in hope.

Don’t let the “significant seven” catch you biting your nails. They should produce peace, not anxiety or guilt, in your life.

Use them to mark personal growth: At the first of each month, note on your calendar those in which you have grown.

Sometimes habits can be hard to create. If you have any of these seven lifegiving habits, don’t let them slip away from neglect. When you practice them, they will touch the lives of young people in wonderful ways.

Paul preached positive practices (peruse Philippians 4:4-9). Practice Paul’s principles, please.

The Significant Seven Checklist

Here’s a checklist of ways to use the seven significant keys to lifegiving:

1. Time With God
‭O‭ I’ve experienced lifegiving worship recently.
O‭ ‭ In the past year, I’ve taken at least one day to get away from my routine and talk with God.
‭O‭ Sometimes I catch a few moments to get quiet time and listen for God in music or in nature.

2. Self-Care
‭O‭ I’ve taken time to be with friends and family at least once this week.
O‭ ‭ I read a book, listen to music, exercise, or do something for myself at least once a week.
O‭ ‭ I’ve said no in the last month at a time when I needed to do something for my own family or personal life.

3. Prayer
O‭ ‭ I pray regularly for my friends, family, and youth.
O‭ ‭ Sometimes I pray while driving or waiting in a line.
‭O‭ I listen for God when I pray.

4. Study of God’s Word
‭O‭ I’ve read from my Bible this week (daily would be best).
‭O‭ I talk with friends about what I read in the Scriptures.
O‭ I had a question about something in the Bible this week.

5. Being Authentically Present
‭O‭ I’ve let go and had fun with a young person recently.
O‭ ‭ Someone has come to me to share a concern in the last two weeks.
O‭ ‭ I’ve been surprised by the depth of a conversation with a youth recently.

6. Connecting Youth to Community
‭O‭ I encouraged a youth to try something in our congregation in the last two weeks.
O‭ ‭ I told a youth about a gift he or she could share with others.
O‭ ‭ I automatically suggest youth for leadership in our congregation.

7. Looking for God
O‭ I usually can find hope in difficult circumstances.
O‭ I talk to others about seeing God in everyday situations.
O‭ I am comfortable with not knowing all of the answers.

From Lifegivers, © 1997 by Abingdon Press. This material may be reproduced for educational purposes.

Other articles in the Lifegivers series:
Faith Conversation Skills.
Creating a Welcoming Environment.
Keeping It Real.
Steps to Identify Potential Youth Disciples. Welcoming Youth.
Getting Connected: Real-Life Options in Reaching Out to Youth.
Setting a New Direction.
Experiencing the Gift of Friendship.
Connecting With Youth.
Addressing Our Fears and Dreams.
How Youth Learn.
Helping Youth Know God (By Checking Out Your Feelings).
People Who Resemble God.
Compelling or Repelling.
Help! I Need Volunteers.
The Significant Seven: The Seven Keys to Lifegiving Ministry With Youth.

Brought to you by your youth ministry colleagues at Cokesbury.

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