Gò0dNews

Gò0dNews for Teens
This New Year
It’s that time of year again to make New Year’s
resolutions. Most of us will make a goal
weight to reach, a desire to be a friendlier
person, or a plan to finish reading the Bible within
the year. But have you ever given it a thought that
in order to reach your goals, you have to have an
entire shift in your walk with Christ. Last year
I didn’t set any resolutions, but I asked God to
restore me to where I was before and to further
our relationship. I prayed Psalms 139:23-24, asking
God to search my heart, to surface any wickedness,
and lead me in the way everlasting. I didn’t ask
Him to restore one specific area of my life because
I wanted God to restore the areas that He knew
needed to be restored. I solely relied on Him to
renew me.
Having God renew you isn’t going to be the
most pleasant thing you’ll go through. You enjoy
being yourself around your friends, not worrying
about what people think of you when they ask you
about your thoughts on religion or going against
the rules that your parents or the Bible have placed
over you. The thrill of being dependent on yourself
is stripped away when you allow God to renew
you. However distasteful it may sound, a restoration
by God can and will lead into a supernatural
growth that you have never imagined.
One thing that has developed over this year
26 // January 2015
has been my faith. I am the first to worry about
anything and everything. Since I’m a college student
and my mother is a single parent, the biggest
thing I worry about is my finances. I went on my
first mission trip this year, and I had one month
to come up with $700. I know that may not seem
much, but I had no money to pay for it. Within
a two-week period, I received over $900, which
enabled me to help others that hadn’t paid in full.
A renewal of faith occurred in the moment I knew I
could not live a life of worry or doubt.
Renewing yourself will allow you to become
dependent on God more than on yourself. You
have given everything, but the end result is not
what you hoped for. I encourage you to take on
this journey of renewal this year. The person you
will become will reveal to you that you’ll no longer
be self-sufficient, but you will know the new
person God has brought back to life is capable of
enduring the tasks you or God will place in front of
you. Ask yourself this before making a New Year’s
Resolution: Have you fulfilled this year’s resolution
If not, pursue this journey before taking on a
resolution that isn’t going to be completed.
Fernando Alejandro is a senior Youth
Ministry Major studying at Lee University in
Cleveland, TN. He is originally from Florida
and was called into youth ministry at age 15
during a youth camp in 2008. He currently
serves as an intern at The Element Student
Ministry of Westmore Church of God.