Whether Catholic or non-Catholic Christian, these principles are critically important for young people to take to heart.
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So, you’ve
graduated high school and are headed away from home for the first time.
Whether your destination is college, the military, marriage – or anywhere else
far from family, church, and friends, you will benefit from reading this
article.
All humanity
is engaged in a spiritual warfare. We have no choice in the matter. As St.
Peter tells us: “Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1
Peter 5:8). Or St. Paul: “Put on the
whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil. For we are not contending against flesh
and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the
world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness
in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:11-12).
When you
leave home your spiritual mettle will be tested many, many times. How you
handle those tests will determine the memories you will have to deal with
thirty, forty years (and longer) from today. I know what I am talking about. In
the forty-two years I have been walking with Jesus, I have seen spiritual
compromise and disaster happen over and over to young men and women who left
home. Even years after high school, when I was 23, it happened to me.
1. Don’t
succumb to pride which whispers in your ear, “It won’t happen to me.” It can happen to you. You are subject to
the same enticements of sin to which everyone else is subject – regardless how
long you have been a Christian. Solomon warned, “Pride goes before disaster, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs
16:18). St. Paul picked up that same
theme in his letter to the Corinthians, “So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall”
(1 Corinthians 10:12). Be on guard against pride.
(1 Corinthians 10:12). Be on guard against pride.
2. Make up your
mind ahead of time to avoid situations and places where you can be tempted to
sin. Be doubly vigilant to avoid being alone in a house or dorm room with
someone of the opposite sex – even if he or she is a Christian. Such a
situation is a recipe for bad decisions.
Remember what St. Paul said to Timothy: “So shun youthful passions and aim at
righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord
from a pure heart” (2 Timothy 2:22). Memorize this maxim:
Sin will take you farther than you want
to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay. And it will cost you more
than you want to pay.
3. Avoid
hanging with people who do not share your faith in Jesus. Again, King Solomon
advised: “Make no friends with those
given to anger, and do not associate with hotheads, or you may learn their ways
and entangle yourself in a snare” (Proverbs 22:24-25). One can easily
substitute “drunkard,” or “an immoral person,” or “liar,” or “cheat,” or any
other ungodly characteristic into this text, and the principle remains
constant. As St. Paul wrote: Bad company ruins
good morals (1 Corinthians 15:33).
4. Alcohol, and
any other ‘recreational’ drug, will cloud your judgment and make you much more willing
to do things for which you will be very sorry afterward. The evidence for this
is indisputable. And if your friends poke fun at you because of your abstinence,
find other friends.
5. Pray each
morning for God’s protection. Each evening, review your day and thank God for
specific situations in which you made the right decisions. However, if you did
fall into sin, do not wallow in guilt. Be quick to confess, repent – and
determine with God’s help to avoid doing the same thing again. The Holy
Spirit’s promise through St. John has always proven a comfort for me when I sin:
“If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who
is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all
unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).
6. Establish
a habit of daily prayer and reading Scripture. Be consistent with this. It is
no surprise the psalmist wrote: How can
young people keep their way pure? By guarding it according to your word . . . . I treasure your word in my
heart, so that I may not sin against you. (Psalm 119:9, 11). Do you remember
Jesus’ experience in the wilderness during Satan’s three-fold temptation? At
each test, Jesus responded with Scripture (Matthew 4:1-11).
For decades I
have practiced what I call the 2+2 = 1+3 Scripture Reading Method. If
you read two chapters of the Old Testament every morning and two of the New
Testament every evening (or vice versa), by the end of the year you will have
read the Old Testament once and the New Testament three times (2+2=1+3). On
average it takes less than 10 minutes to read two chapters of Scripture. In
five years you will have read the Old Testament five times and the New
Testament fifteen times. In ten years
– well, you can do the math. With so much of God’s word sown year after year in
your heart, think how the Holy Spirit will mature you more quickly into the
image of Christ.
7. Establish
a habit of weekly attendance at Mass and frequent reception of the Sacraments of
the Eucharist and of Reconciliation. Prayer, the Scriptures, and the Sacraments
are supernatural gifts the Holy Spirit gives to empower believers on their
faith journey. Fighting spiritual battles without those spiritual “weapons” is nothing
less than a guarantee for disaster.
8. Christian
faith nurtured in your home laid the foundation for what must now become a
mature, adult faith. Part of that maturing process will occur as you interact with
people who will not share your understanding of God, of Jesus, the Holy Spirit,
and the Church. You will meet many who are actively antagonistic toward your Catholic
faith. But your situation will be no different than what the faithful have
faced for millennia. The ancient worship of Baal is a type of 21st
century compromise with the anti-Christ philosophies permeating our society.
Yet what the Holy Spirit said to Israel through Elijah, He says to us today: ‘How long will you go limping
with two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if
Baal, then follow him’ (1 Kings 18:21). In other words, decide today – and every
day hereafter – that you will follow Jesus and obey the Church regarding faith
and morals. This is a choice you must consciously make, day after day. And it is
a choice you must every day ask God to help you maintain.
These strategies have proven
effective for me over the last 42 years of my walk with Christ. And they will
also help you avoid many of the spiritual traps that lay ahead of you. Satan is
a cruel and merciless liar, thief, and murderer. We must not be ignorant of his
schemes (see John 8:44 and 2 Corinthians 2:11). As you prepare to leave home for the first time, please apply these strategies to your life. You will not be sorry you did so – even 42 years from now.
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