The Bible is full of wisdom for the lives of our teens. It is an amazing book. It is living and relevant. It is convicting and encouraging. In it we find examples of those who have failed miserably and those who have succeeded beyond their abilities. In it we find the impossible task of overcoming our sin on our own, and we find the gospel that has the power to save. While there are many passages our students should know, there are two words from the Bible that every teen needs to know. What are they?

I’ve written previously about the truths about the gospel we must teach our students. The longer I am in ministry, and the more I counsel, the more convinced I become (not that I ever was not convinced) that our students desperately need the gospel.

Beyond that, we could each point to favorite passage that we love. We could quickly come up with a list of “coffee cup” and “bumper sticker” verses to dish out to students. All of those are great (although many times out of context) and can be helpful.

There are however, two words from the Bible that I feel we must continually direct our students to. Those words are found in Ephesians chapter two:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 1

The two words appear in verse four and are, “But God.” Stop and let those words really sink in for a moment. The entire gospel can be summed up in these two words, and our students desperately need to hear them.

My guess? You do too. Here is why:

Students need to know that God is rich in mercy

They need to come out from under the guilt of screwing up and know that God’s mercy is new each day. Yesterday’s failures do not carry over to today. Today is a fresh start.

Students need to know that God has done for them what they could not

God stepped in on their behalf. He is for them. He loves them…He really, really loves them.

Students need to know that God did it in spite of them

In a world that tells them it is all about them. In a culture where everything seems to tell them they are god. Students need to know that the shame they feel for not measuring up is ridiculous when it comes to God. He stepped in out of mercy, to do for them what they could not, in spite of them, because He loves them.

“But God.”

You know the truth is that He did the same for you. You do not have to be a perfect Youth Pastor or Youth Leader. It is not your responsibility to save your students. Only He can. We were helpless…we are helpless apart from His saving power and grace.

“But God…”

Let that sink in today….

Photo credit: Steve A Johnson / Foter / CC BY