Looking for advice

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hicetnunc

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I am the confirmation sponsor for a 16 year old boy. He was very enthusiastic about his confirmation two years ago, bit since then he has met a girlfriend who he is becoming sexually active with and his faith is slowly slipping away. I am not sure how to advise him as he is reluctant to talk about his faith. He gets no moral guidance from his family. Looking for advice from any parents out there with teenage experience. Many thanks.
 
This is always tough, At 16 there mostly Young men,Adult body with a mind that swings from being a nice boy to being an overbearing man, what you need to do is use a bit of psychology … Like put a carrot in front of the donkey, find what he’s interested in ,then Dovetail that interest towards the Church,if that’s at all possible , maybe you could have a couple of jobs around the place that he could help you with ,then try to dovetail the conversation to what you think are the important issues instead of the superficial ones that he spends his time on, tread carefully, like walking around broken Glass
 
The problem is not the youth. The problem is us. We are poor examples of the power and the Presence of God. Are we operating in the gifts? For example, every church should have many prophets. Paul said it is the best gift. One word from God can change a person’s life. Nothing is to hard for the Lord, but He needs faithful servants who are willing to make themselves a living sacrifice.
 
I was in a similar situation at his age. It took a car wreck and a TEC retreat (a youth retreat) to help me wake up. Prayer is obviously the first step. I would ask him, as a favor to you, to be open to anything he comes across that he thinks would make him a better man. Then give him a copy of Jason Everett’s pamphlet to read. I think it’s called “pure manhood”.
 
You could consider asking him if he thinks leading his girlfriend into sin (or following her lead) is showing love for her.
True love desires the best for the beloved, and doesn’t want to use her for his own pleasure.
It’s one of the points Jason Evert brings up.

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Many thanks for your replies and prayers. I did talk to him today about leading his gf into sin and this seemed to have an effect. I appreciate any prayers for him as he has a lot of potential and loves talking about philosophy.
 
A famous jurist once said, “you obey the law because you love God or dread nought,” i.e., some people do what’s right because it’s right; some do what’s right because they fear the consequences of doing wrong.

Would some discussion of the possible negative repercussions work? I don’t know, but it might be something to consider.
 
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