New Stuff: A Back to School Devotion for Youth

Well, it's back to school time again!  I know!  Stinks, doesn't it?  I mean, can you believe that Summer is already over?  As always, it went by fast!  A new school year can mean different things for different people. Some of us are ready to get back into the school routine and some of us are bummed out. Some of us might be feeling excited to see old friends and make new ones, and some of us might just be sad that summer is over. You might even be a little scared about going back to school because of all the “new” things that you are going to face. You will have to deal with “new” teachers, try and make “new” friends, and some of you might even be going to a “new” school. School is not always easy, is it? And when there are “new” things to experience, it can be even                                                                more challenging for all of us.

Starting a new school year is also a time when we see that many people around us seem to have “new stuff". Some people have new clothes, new phones, new ipods, new backpacks and maybe even a new car. And if we let it get to us, it can bring us down because other people have new” things that we don’t have. When we see a lot of “new stuff" it can even make us a little angry because we want those things for ourselves.  We’re only human, right? I mean, who doesn’t want “new stuff”? 

The big companies want us to feel envy for what other people have and how they look.  They spend tons of money on commercials and adverting in hopes that you’ll feel envious enough to spend as much effort and money as you can to buy what they’re selling.  And what happens next?  We start comparing ourselves to others, right? When we do this, we get jealous, angry and feel like we’re not as good as other people. This kind of thinking is messed up, and not the way the world is supposed to be!

But let’s face it. We all feel like this sometime. I know I do. The problem with envy is that it leads us feeling unhappy, empty and lonely. Like a cancer, it gets inside us, and starts to eat away at our soul. It's a sickness!  But the great thing is; we don’t have to feel this way! God wants us to know that “new stuff” is not always the things that we can see or touch. By trusting in Him, He gives us a “new” way of seeing life and the world around us! Instead of feeling envy, God can help us to feel love for others and love them because of who they are, not what they have or don’t have!

By trusting in God, he gives us a new way of life that is not based on the stuff we have or don’t have. The “new stuff” that God wants for all of us is on the inside. Let it out! He wants us to love instead of hate! He wants us to share what we have, even when we only have a little! He wants us to not be alone, but live together in families, schools, churches and all kinds of communities! God wants all of us to have “new stuff”, but most importantly, he wants us to have a “new life”! We can have “new life” through Him and by loving each other! Trust in God this school year, and make this a year of “New Stuff”!