Dear Teenagers,

Standards.

Don’t apologize for having them. Set them high. Dare to be different. Don’t feel bad about yourself when you don’t fit in. There’s nothing wrong with you, but the world will try to make you think there is.

The world will try to tell you that you think you’re better, but that’s not it. It’s just that you know without a doubt that God’s way IS better.

Standards. Set them. Keep them. And when you mess up – because you will – ask God to give you the strength to forgive yourself and keep on going.

“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;” – Philippians 1:27