Where is your Focus?

My church has a youth group for teenagers. And with the youth group is a system--program-- that is established so the teens can learn more about God.

Sometimes that system/program is abused. The program has a point-system. When you do your devotions you get points--when you do them on the right days you get additional points. When you say verses, go to church, take sermon notes, participate in different ministries, come up with projects to do for missions--when you do all of that you get points.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that. It is a program that rewards students for actions that will, ideally, produce fruit and enable them to grow.

However, occasionally the focus is transplanted from growth and onto points. The pressure to spend time with God is no longer there because it presents a road to fellowship with God, but rather because it earns points for our team. No longer should we read books on Christian living and do a book report on it to enrich our lives, instead do it for the points. No longer are missionaries being blessed for the purpose of the furtherance of God's kingdom, but rather to earn the most points possible in that category.

Not saying EVERY time a verse is said, a day of devotions done, is it done purely for the points. Nor am I saying every time leaders pressure their followers to do those things, the pressure is for the points.

I can't evaluate the hearts. I can't rightly judge the motives. So I give you this admonition: In everything you do, do it for God's glory; In everything you do, do it for the right reasons.

Your goal in life is to be like Christ, is to abide in Christ, is to walk in to the Spirit. So when you memorize verses, when you read Christian living books, when you spend time in God's Word you should have a motive of growing closer to God. Your focus should be on the cross, on Jesus, not on points or temporal rewards.

It is your decision personally to focus on the right motives. Everyone else around you may be urging you to do your devotions, or to say verses, or to sing in the choir "because it is what you should do," or "because we want to win the year," but it is your responsibility to focus on abiding in Christ.

When you focus on the temporal stress builds. You become a robot. You HAVE to do this or that or you will bring your team down. You HAVE to do this or that or your leaders will chide you for throwing away points.

But when you focus on the eternal, none of that matters. You see doing your devotions as getting closer to God. And that has a much greater reward. When you do things to grow closer, you see that you are closer to God. And when you get closer to God, God moves closer to you. When you abide in Christ, God will produce fruit through you. You will bear the fruit of the Spirit(love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance).