7 Truths Christian Teens Can Thank God For

Family, friends, health. Toys, gadgets, food. A heated house, a widescreen TV, Rock & Roll music.

What are you thankful for?

If you mention any of the above around the Thanksgiving table this year, I won’t judge. God smiles at a grateful heart and, personally, I’m very thankful for Rock & Roll. But while you’re listing the little blessings in life, why not thank him for a few really huge ones? Consider these seven truths Christian teens can thank God for. If these are all you have in life, you are more richly blessed than many of those with billions in their pockets! 

1) Genesis 1:1: A Mighty Creator

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Would you like to see your name written on a tiny piece of paper and tossed into a giant glass ball with countless others while a hand draws a single one? Think of the Mega Millions lottery or the reaping in the Hunger Games.

If God did not exist, this is essentially how your fate would be decided.

Pure luck becomes your only hope to change a bleak future. Remember that when you’re huddled in the basement while an EF-5 tornado bears down on your home, or when you’re trapped behind enemy lines in a full-scale assault on your soul.

Your fate rests not in the uncertainty of chance or luck but in the hands of a loving, almighty God who cares deeply for you. 

2) Deuteronomy 15:15: Broken Chains

“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.”

You might not have a slave driver standing behind you with a whip, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a slave. Lust, fear, hatred, greed, self-loathing, and power all make menacing slave drivers, even more so than actual human tyrants because most of the time you don’t even know they’re driving you.

On your own, you cannot break free from such masters.

God freed the Israelites when he sent the plagues and led his people through the Red Sea. If you want to know how he has broken your chains, look to the cross and thank God you don’t have to fight a futile battle on your own.

3) Luke 2:10-11: Free Freedom 

“But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

The best Christmas gift of all came the very first Christmas in the form of a tiny baby born in humble surroundings: your Savior. You didn’t have to wait outside the store in the freezing cold with 200 other shoppers or place him on layaway while you scrounge up the money to buy him. He came of his own free will, no charge, no strings attached, no buy-now-pay-later schemes. 

Sometimes freedom really is free.

4) John 19:30: Debts Paid in Full

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

There is nothing you must do to pay for your sins because Christ has paid for them all. It is finished.

Now there’s something Christian teens can thank God for!

5) Matthew 28: 5-6: Total Conquest

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” 

What if Jesus had died and stayed in the grave? He isn’t the first to give his life for someone else, and he certainly wasn’t the last. A mother pushes a child out of the path of a speeding truck but is killed in the impact. A climber cuts himself from a string of climbers before the weight can pull them all down. A soldier takes a bullet to the head so that you don’t have to go to war. Heroic as they were, all these people stayed dead after their sacrifice.

At least in bodily form.

Because Jesus broke free from the grave, however, that mother, that climber, and that soldier may very well be alive today, enjoying an eternal life where death has no reach.

And you, regardless of how unheroic you may feel, will one day join them. Thanks be to Jesus!

6) Psalm 62:1-2: Unshakable Ground

“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

Like Buddhists, Muslims, Atheists, and everybody else in the world, Christians have bad days and dark years, too.

One huge difference, however, sets us apart from everyone else:

Even during your worst day or darkest night, you are never alone.

You have a solid rock to stand on while the rest of the earth quakes. You have a fortress to hide in during the attacks on your soul. The storm will not catch you out in the open. Your life may be in tumult, but your soul has a place of refuge. No one but those who put their faith in Jesus have this amazing gift.

7) Revelations 5:11-12: Unfathomable Awesomeness 

“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’”

I couldn’t think of a better word than “awesomeness” because the English language has no words powerful enough to describe this scene. All I know is that someday, I will be there, singing with these angels at the throne of God because he has opened the gates of heaven for peons like you and me. We won’t be like poor, forlorn shoppers staring into the windows of New York City’s Oscar de la Renta (said to be the most expensive store in the United States), wishing we could afford what’s inside.

We’ll be right in the thick of it, enjoying immeasurable luxury and beauty.

Yet another thing Christian teens can thank God for. Happy Thanksgiving, and may you always be blessed with a heart of gratitude toward your Lord!

Christian Teens Can Thank God For All Things

Check out this article on thankfulness written by a teen.