Hidden: A Devotional for Teen GirlsНамуна

Day 1 – Come out of Hiding

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. - John 10:10

Devotional
Hide, verb | past participle: hidden - To put or keep out of sight; conceal from the view or notice of others; (of a thing) prevent (someone or something) from being seen; keep secret or unknown; conceal oneself.

As a 14-year-old teenager, I decided to make Jesus the Lord of my life. That means, I decided to let Jesus lead my life rather than anyone or anything else. As a teen who had grown up in church, I thought my new life with God meant I needed to do two things - first, follow all God's rules to keep God happy with me and second, avoid anything that would make God mad or disappointed in me. Focusing on those two things, I became prideful and thought I was better than others because I was pleasing God with my life while my classmates did whatever they wanted to do.

Over the years, Jesus has shown me that following Him isn't a day by day attempt to be as good as I can. Actually, I realized that Jesus was inviting me to a life that was about so much more than modified behavior. This is a relationship where a wonderful, loving God unearths the parts of us that have been buried underneath painful experiences we've gone through, lies we've believed, and unfortunate realities caused by living in a fallen world.

Say this out loud - "God wants to transform me back to me."

The beginning of a relationship with Jesus is the beginning of a journey where the real me comes out of hiding. Any version of you that you've attempted to manufacture - even on your best day - isn't God's version of you. Jesus didn't die for me to become proud or judgmental of others. Jesus said He came that I may have life and have it abundantly. The life Jesus is talking about is one where the God-created and God-designed you (who is hidden) begins to live again. Whether you're like I was - proud and judgmental, or something else, this is a call or an invitation from a big sister saying, let's throw off what we think life with Jesus should look like and follow Him into something deeper, honest, and authentic.

Journal Question
- What have you come to think life as a follower of Jesus should look like? At first, I viewed it as a life where I needed to focus on getting everything right and being "good" all of the time.

- What is Jesus' invitation to you right now? What does He want you to throw off so you can become the person He died for you to be?