Recently several teenagers from our community were in a tragic car accident. All three high school students in the car had been drinking, took a turn too fast, and their car flipped and hit a tree. A seventeen-year-old named Kevin died in the crash.

After Kevin’s death Julia surprised me with her reaction. “I didn’t even know Kevin that well, but I can’t stop thinking about what happened. It made me realize that we don’t know when the end will be. This accident made me see that living weekend to weekend, party to party, is not really living at all. It’s made me ask what I’m living for.”

The reality of Kevin’s death has been difficult for our small town. But God is using the circumstances to open people’s eyes to the reality of life, death, and eternity.

Many times we take the attitude that kids need to get that wild streak out of their system, which often takes the form of underage drinking. But this behavior is illegal, dangerous, and habit-forming, and it is our responsibility as the church to equip students to make godly choices for their own spiritual and physical benefit.

One of the best ways we can teach students about godly choices is by living out those choices in relationships with them. If you demonstrate your love through action, they will see God’s love in you and understand His dependability as well. If you don’t have a teenager at home, reach out to a teen in your church or neighborhood. In this way you will be pointing the younger generation toward the life-saving love of the Savior.