Our Daily Bread Teens EditionSample

Read 1 John 2:12–17

12 I am writing to you, dear children,
    because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome the evil one.

14 I write to you, dear children,
    because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,
    and the word of God lives in you,
    and you have overcome the evil one.

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives for ever.

Listening to Others Who Know Jesus

At one of our church meetings, we were talking about how there weren’t many leaders in the church. We spent over an hour working through many ways to fix this problem. Everyone gave their input except one of the older leaders. He was silent the whole time. In the end, he quietly advised, “We’ve forgotten Jesus’ answer to our leadership issue. Before we do anything, we must first ‘ask the Lord of the harvest . . . to send out workers’” (Luke 10:2). 

We had been looking at the problem in the wrong way! So we spent the rest of our time praying that God would “send out workers” and provide the right leaders for our church.

Christian author C. S. Lewis once said, “The next best thing to being wise is to live in a circle of those who are.” It echoes Proverbs 1:5: “Let the wise listen and add to their learning.” That older leader’s comment is just one example of the value of wise people who “know him who is from the beginning” (1 John 2:13–14) and have spent time reading the Bible and talking with God. We should never be afraid to ask for advice from those who have known Jesus for a long time (and then to listen to it!). They are God’s gift to us and our churches. —DR

We don’t need to work things out alone—our church family is there for us!

Thinking It Over

Whom do you look up to in your church? What 3 things can you learn from them?

People You Could Learn From

A rapper: George Moss

Youth worker Jonathan Kiew: “Why would I lose to an older man?”

YouTuber: Ho Ming Yue