Use these questions as a springboard for insightful conversations about caring for our planet.
1. Why has the "green" movement become so popular lately? Is it just a fad or here to stay? Explain.
2. Can you be both a Christian and an environmentalist? Explain. What's the difference between caring for the earth and worshipping it?
3. What motivates you to live "green"? Are you worried about our planet's future? Why or why not?
4. How are you a good steward of God's creation? What areas could you improve on, and why?
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1. God will give your teenagers a healthy respect for the earth and a proper perspective about environmentalism.
2. Your teenagers will use available resources wisely and not be wasteful in any areas of their lives.
3. Your teenagers will appreciate being entrusted with all that God created and be passionate about protecting it.
4. God will help your teenagers witness their faith by how they care for the earth, for other people, and for themselves.
Verse of the month
"Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things." (1 Chronicles 29:11)
As we read in the Genesis account, God made everything—including people, the crown of his creation. He also entrusted us with a huge responsibility: caring for the land, the water, and the creatures he provided for us. So recycling and conserving isn't just the right thing to do; it's our job as caretakers of the earth, which belongs to God.
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In the chaos of daily responsibilities, stresses, and activities, do your teenagers "remember to remember" Jesus? Try this life-changing idea from Rick Lawrence, editor of Group Magazine:
Every aspect of nature, no matter how mundane, has a message about God's character and goodness locked up in it. Paul's declaration in Romans 1:20 about God's "invisible qualities" proves it. We can wake kids up to those qualities by helping them develop a habit of paying much closer attention to what God has made. This can be a simple daily challenge. At least once a day, wherever you are, pluck a blade of grass, a dandelion, a leaf, a flower—anything from creation—and closely study it. Then ask God to reveal to you his eternal power and divine nature through it.
This sounds far-fetched until you actually do it. God's Word is true, not rhetorical. Your kids (and you) will be amazed at how eager God is to describe himself through even the most forgettable aspects of his creation. For example, I just plucked a sunflower to study. I asked God to show me something about him through it. The middle of the flower looks like a head of hair, with so many little black "hairs" that it's impossible to count them. Then God reminded me that "the very hairs on [my] head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30). That has nothing to do with some kind of heavenly inventory. God is trying to tell me he knows me intimately, and he's paying rapt attention to the details of who I am. He sees me. He loves me.
Ask your kids to develop a daily habit of worshipping God by paying passionate attention to how he reveals himself through nature. Model this yourself, and talk often of how this practice has led you into worship.
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Research shows that green living has definitely taken root among today's teenagers.
