Let’s face it, teens follow trends! Some are even confident enough to set their own. For teens these days, the pressures of fitting in are tremendous! Having the right swag, clothes, shoes, hair, and a plethora of other things are key to being accepted. Oh, I forgot to mention that this is a technology generation! Ipods, computers, facebook, and last but definitely not least, CELL PHONES are some of the must haves! Every teen these days has a cell phone, and more than likely they are addicted to text messaging.
Statistics are rising at an alarming rate for a trend known as ‘sexting.’ For those of you who don’t know, sexting is sending nude or semi-nude pictures or video of yourself through text messaging. This is a very dangerous trend that can easily ruin one’s reputation, because once the text message is sent you can no longer assume that it’s private between you and the recipient! Once they have it it’s theirs to do whatever they please with it! And if it’s posted online or sent through email, it’s on the internet FOREVER! Think of the embarrassment that could come from you applying for a job and getting denied because an employer “googles” you and see’s pictures of your naked body?? Or what if a family member happens to come across the photos?
Not only is this harmful to your reputation but it’s also harmful to your salvation! The bible speaks of the shame of your nakedness being uncovered in Isaiah 47. Let’s not forget about Ham who saw his father’s nakedness in Genesis 9. His son was cursed because he saw his father’s nakedness and told of it! As you read this, some might think, “Oh, what’s the big deal!” This is more than a big deal! Unless you are married and in the company of your spouse, it is a sin to have your nakedness exposed. There is no good in it and the only reason to be viewing someone in the nude outside of marriage is to fulfill the desires of the flesh! We must remember….our mind is like a battlefield! There is a mental war going on against worldly, carnal, fleshly desires and plenty of other things! Let’s face facts, if you’re walking in flesh, you’re walking in sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin equal death. We must remember Phillipians 4:8: “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Now don’t get me wrong, we are human! We will notice an attractive person, but it is not pleasing in the eyes of God to sit up and think about what Sister Kesha might look like without her clothing! I think of how I would watch my grandmother bake. If she used a cake mix to bake a cake, she would always use a sifter. One day I asked her what the purpose of the sifter was and I learned a valuable lesson that day! She told me that the sifter was used to get all the bad lumps out of the mix to make the batter smooth. That’s exactly how you should handle your bad thoughts! Use Philipians 4:8 as your sifter and sift out the ungodly meditations of your hearts! What’s in the heart starts in the mind. Our hearts and minds need to be committed to pleasing the Lord and following Him. So, in saying all of this, we should cover ourselves: in the Armor of God! In our sin we are unrighteous, or “naked” before God. Remember, we are in the world and not of it. So I urge the youth of today to be trend setters and not trend followers. Take off the “filthy rags” of unrighteousness and clothe yourself in the finest of all clothing, the Armor of God! It’s the covering of God that will give you victory over the devil!
