by Carol Bailey

As believers we are salt to the world. We bring the preserving power from our Father into an otherwise decaying society. As in the salt analogy, a little encouragement can go along way with students. Encouragement takes many forms. From a positive comment about an extracurricular activity or recent achievement to an act of kindness that you have observed, look for creative ways to intersect your students’ lives.

A single sentence can build up or tear down. Checking our speech might alter the way that we interact with teens. The Lord hears every word that comes from our mouths. Finding positive ways to tease, rather than falling back on sarcasm, builds bridges rather than erecting walls with our students.

One way to speak Truth over your students’ lives is to pray Scripture. A friend in Arkansas taught me this gem when she wrote back after sensing a need in my life. Rather than shooting a message, “I’m praying for you,” she typed her prayer in the email. What a way to bathe our students in God’s Word!

Send messages that imitate God’s love letter to them. For example:

• I’m struggling with my temper: Lord, help Kyle be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19).
• I want to share my faith: Father, create in Candace a desire to be ready always “to give the reason for the hope” she has (1 Peter 3:15).
• I cannot forgive myself: Dear Lord, bathe Brandon in Your peace; reveal to him that there is “no condemnation” for him because Christ holds him safely (Romans 8:1).
• I want to know Christ: Father God, “my heart’s desire and prayer to [You] for [Anthony] is that [he] may be saved.”

Carol Bailey is a freelance writer who has ministered alongside her husband, John, through the trenches of student ministry for over 20 years. Her claims to fame are her two daughters who have survived “the fishbowl” to the ripe old ages of 18 and 20. You can read more of their family’s tales at baileysonmission@blogspot.com.