Youth Group Devotionals

What grabs your attention throughout the day? Today's passage isn't just about what you are looking at, but how you take in what you are seeing throughout the day. In the Jewish culture Jesus came from, someone had an "evil eye" if they were envious or covetous of another person's possessions, position, or generally was not charitable toward others. Someone had a "good eye" if they had an attitude of gentleness, generosity, goodwill, and kindness for others.When we focus on worldly things like possessions, status, and pleasures we foster an evil eye which creates a dark heart in us. Over time, our hearts drift away from what truly matters.An “evil eye” doesn’t always look obviously sinful. Sometimes it simply looks like living consumed by self. It can show up in constantly wanting more, resenting someone else’s success or being unwilling to give generously because we are afraid of losing what we have.But Jesus calls His followers to have a “good eye” which changes the way we see everything. We stop seeing people as competition and start seeing them as people to love. We stop chasing temporary treasures and start investing in eternal things. We stop asking, “What can I get?” and start asking, “How can I serve?”When our focus is on Christ, our hearts become full of light. His love produces generosity, humility, compassion, and contentment in us. Instead of being consumed by the world, we begin reflecting Him to the world.

All of you are becoming adults and with that comes more independence. You will need to make more of your own decisions, figure out who you are, and rely less on your parents. That’s a normal part of growing up, but sometimes we start thinking we don’t really need God as well.With your independence you will also get to choose what you do with your time. Jobs, school, friends, and family will need some of that time, but there will still be downtime and there’s always something fighting for that time.When I was your age back in the ancient days of the 1900s, the distractions were TV, movies, video games, and painfully slow dial-up internet. I used to play a game called SimCity, and I’d sit down after dinner and tell myself I was only going to play for 30 minutes. Then I’d look up and somehow it was 1AM! Today, most of our distractions live in the rectangle you’re reading this devotional on right now.That’s why fasting matters.In Matthew 6:16–21, Jesus talks about fasting and frames it as a normal part of following Him. Fasting is giving something up for a period of time so we can focus more on God. It’s choosing to step away from responsibility, comfort, and distraction to remind ourselves that we need Him more than we need entertainment, convenience, or control.Fasting helps expose what we depend on most. It reminds us that even though we’re growing in independence, we were never meant to live without God. It helps reset our hearts and refocus our attention on what actually matters.Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What we give our attention to shapes our hearts. Fasting helps us put our attention back on God.I will admit fasting is not a regular practice for me, maybe it can become something we all try to incorporate more together?

Mike Ilitch, the founder of Little Caesars pizza and former owner of the Detroit Tigers and Red Wings heard that an elderly woman had been robbed and assaulted in her Detroit home. He and his wife quietly stepped in, found a safe apartment for the woman, and paid her rent for the remaining years of her life with very few people knowing about it.It was only after his death that the story came to light.And the woman he helped was Rosa Parks, the civil rights activist that refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955.His motive was not to bring attention to his good deed, but for the sake of serving someone in need. Think about this story as you read today’s passage. Use it as a reminder that real generosity in the eyes of God only needs him as the audience.

On Sunday night we discussed how we are to interact with others as Christians. Today's passage, Matthew 5:13-16, touches on this as well. As Christians, image bearers of God, we should be displaying God's goodness everywhere we go. Easier said than done though right? When someone cuts me off in traffic or I hit the wrong shot in tennis I don't always have the best reaction.That’s the tension Jesus is getting at in this passage. Being “salt and light” sounds inspiring until it collides with things in our lives like traffic, competition, frustration, difficult people, stress, pride. The hard part isn’t understanding the command, it’s living it consistently.In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus says believers are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Salt preserves and enhances. Light exposes darkness and helps people see clearly. In other words, Christians should affect the places they enter. People should experience something different because Christ is shaping us.But the passage also humbles us because it reveals how often we fail at that. One missed tennis shot and suddenly patience disappears. Someone cuts us off and anger shows up immediately. Those moments expose what’s really going on in our hearts.The encouraging part is that Jesus isn’t saying, “Try harder so people think you’re good.” He’s pointing us back to dependence on Him. The goal is our sanctification which isn’t perfection overnight, it’s transformation over time. As the Spirit works in us, our reactions slowly begin to change. Maybe not perfectly, but progressively.Something for you to think about today, what do people see from you when pressure hits? Light is most noticeable in darkness, and Christlike character is most noticeable in frustrating moments.Verse 16 says: “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”The goal is not drawing attention to ourselves, but reflecting God’s goodness so clearly that people are pointed back to Him.Honestly, the brightest light might not shine when we aren't failing, but how we respond after we fail. Humility, repentance, patience, asking for forgiveness, showing grace, those are powerful forms of light too.

I like to remind myself as often as possible, that Christianity is a counter cultural movement. This is not an original idea of mine but one I learned that helps shape how I read scripture.The Beatitudes are the epitome of Jesus’s counter cultural message. While teaching in lands under control of the Roman empire, possibly the greatest empire up to that time, Jesus teaches His followers that strength, might, and power are not what the Kingdom of Heaven, His Kingdom, are about. His Kingdom is about gentleness, peace, righteousness, and mercy.Lastly, notice that these are traits that describe Him as well, so by practicing the Beatitudes we ourselves are becoming more Christ-like which is the essence of Christianity.