Two Bits of Advice for Middle Schoolers

Last week, I had the privilege to speak with the middle school LifeGroup at Vision. (Thank you Ben for the opportunity!) What a fun group!

The final question on the list really got me thinking, “What advice would you give to a middle school student?” Here’s what came to mind:

Don’t get in a hurry, walk with God today

I remember being younger and always in a hurry to arrive at the next stage in life. I was in a hurry to grow up, get my license, get a job, finish school—the list goes on.

My focus was always on the future and the fact that it never seemed to arrive.

In that state, I think it’s easy to miss out on what God wants to teach you and fail to enjoy what God has given you. When you’re constantly focused on the future, you can fail to know and follow God in the present.

For middle schoolers (and people of other ages too), it’s best to seek and love God today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. When we walk with God today, we’ll enjoy this day and begin to recognize God’s hand working in our lives.

Following God today prepares you to follow him tomorrow.

Enroll in the process of learning

All of life requires learning.

There are those who enroll in the process of learning and those who despise learning. Deciding not to learn is truly one of the most foolish things a person can do.

For middle schoolers, I think the word “learning” carries a negative connotation since it’s tied to “school.”

There’s so much more to learning than going to school. Learning, at its best, is something you choose to do because you want to know and you want to grow.

My encouragement to this class was, enroll in the process of learning because you’ll use the skill of learning throughout your life. Plus, learning becomes a lot more fun as an adult because you can choose what you want to learn about.

Learning can be, dare I say, thrilling!