No Matter the Ways

One of my favorite things that my mother told me during the early stages of this pandemic was, “Man, imagine if this happened back in my day. I mean, our social lives would be impacted like crazy!”

I agree with my mom for many reasons about this, and it reminded me of how grateful I feel to live in a technologically advanced world like ours is today. I cannot imagine how difficult it could have been if this world wasn’t as technologically advanced today.

One of the concepts that TeenPact wants us to do when we leave our state class is communicating effectively, most notably about our faith in Christ. However, these past five months have minimized our ability to communicate, specifically with people outside our family circles.

But even though these difficult times, we have learned to maximize communication through something we as teenagers are known to be familiar with; technology. So familiar that sometimes we are quickly consumed by the benefits of technology. (I’ll leave Mr. Cools’s blog post for that conversation.)

Scripture teaches us to communicate in a way that is not just pleasing to ourselves and our family and friends but is pleasing and praiseworthy towards our amazing God. However, through this unforgettable time in our world’s history, we have learned to continue to communicate the ideas of the Gospel, but in ways we never knew were possible.

I’ll be honest, I had never heard of the now well-known video calling app, Zoom, before the pandemic, and I believe that even some of you didn’t know it existed either. But through technological tools such as Zoom, Facetime, Houseparty, and others, we have learned that our natural human urge to socialize can still be satisfied, even without physical interaction.

I consider myself a huge extrovert, so even the thought of not physically seeing my friends was troubling. However, through scripture, God has shown us that the power of communication must be used wisely, as all of our words must be pleasing to him.

In Colossians 4:6, Paul tells us, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

Even if we could not have in-person conversations, we have and still are finding countless new ways to communicate exceptionally and do it in a pleasing way to our God. It’s safe to say that we have all learned something from this unforgettable time, and it will be a time that none of us will ever forget.

So I challenge you to be grateful for the blessings and privileges that our awesome God has given us and use what you have learned as tools for the lives that lie ahead of us.

Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official views of TeenPact Leadership Schools. To learn more about our Vision & Values, please visit teenpact.com/vision-values/.