Our youth is deceptive. The main concern is that young people believe that they can successfully take on the world. History is replete with comments proclaiming the deceptive nature of youth.
I remember my youth and the feeling that will never come back any more /the feeling that I could last for ever, outlast the sea, the earth, and all men; the deceitful feeling that lures us on to joys, to perils, to love, to vain effort /to death; the triumphant conviction of strength, the heat of life in the handful of dust, the glow in the heart that with every year grows dim, grows cold, grows small, and expires /and expires, too soon, too soon /before life itself.
Deceitfulness of Youth
Deceitfulness does not disappear as we get older but I believe that the difference is that the young dismiss it with regard to themselves while older people come to terms with it. When we are young we just cannot see the danger or the problem but as we get older it becomes painfully clear.
The pleasures of the world are deceitful; they promise more than they give. They trouble us in seeking them, they do not satisfy us when possessing them and they make us despair in losing them.
Bertrand Russell gives us some solid reasoning that is easier said than done.
No satisfaction based upon self-deception is solid, and however unpleasant the truth may be, it is better to face it once for all, to get used to it, and to proceed to build your life in accordance with it.
The reason why it is easier is because of what Edward Bulwer-Lytton says
The easiest person to deceive is one's own self.
However it is the Bible that tells us the best way to approach the problem.
Being young is a time of stupidity. The only real solution is to repent as soon as we know better and beg God to forget it, so I want to spend a bit of space considering it.
A common fault associated with youth is bowing to peer pressure.
Exodus 23:2 (English Standard Version) You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice,
It is believed that the reason why this is predominantly (but certainly not exclusively) a teenage problem is that young people are more curious and at the same time more ignorant i.e. lack more knowledge. Television and music are some of the chief offenders but direct contact with their peers has the greatest influence. Teenagers crave approval from their peers more than anything else including God and parents. They will go to stupid extremes to fit in. Be an exception.
... Not everyone will give into peer pressure to smoke but they might give into peer pressure to jaywalk. So pretty much 100% will give into peer pressure about something.
Here are some stats:
When we are young we will probably look the best we ever will. We have more energy when we're young. We have options. We have opportunities. We have second chances. The sky is bluer, the songs are sweeter, the food tastes better, everything is fresh and new and excitement is everywhere, there's always tomorrow. Everything is right with the world. When we are young it seems important to fit in to all the wonder.
It is all a lie. Youth is very brief and treacherous. Life is not passing you by. There is nothing new under the sun
. Horrible mistakes are made during this time. Because of this combination we have young people trapped in gangs, unemployment, drinking, immoral music, degenerate movies, video games, harmful friendships and so on. Whatever excuse they present verbally I expect that deep down they know that these things do not promote their best interest because they believe the lie of youth.
The whole point of something being a snare is that you cant see it. We know you cant see it but it is there.
Look at Gods perspective of youth.
People don't give you the benefit of your experience. They tend to talk down to you or pass you by for tasks that are within your competency. Youth are blamed and criticised undeservedly. You are sometimes punished for things that you did not do. Guess what? It happens to all of us. Thats life and you cant change it but if you rely on God things will improve.
In the light of this we need to remember Ecclesiastes
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13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
But telling young people these things does not seem to matter. For years we have been telling them the same things:
A Quote by Kenneth Smith
People compose the schedules they do out of the priorities they have; and someone who says otherwise is deceiving himself about what he really values. The same thing applies to money that applies to time. I make a practice of watching what people do, never what they say. Whatever is important, to anyone sane, he will make a place for it; people live out their values. Values are different in this respect from "ideals," which are typically vain and effete and thus exist mostly for the sake of promoting self-delusions.Kenneth Smith
This just goes to show that young people (actually all people) do what is important to them regardless of what is obvious to everyone else. They use time and pursue interests that other people use and pursue differently.
When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.Oscar Wilde
Young people in romantic relationships are usually self deluded. They lose what little objectivity they accumulated by their short experience with life. They live in a dream world. To survive they need to adhere to good council but self delusion feeds on itself and we have already discussed the various electives that they employ. It goes contrary to the Bible.
Read the book of Proverbs. It was written for young people
Young people are hard-ears
people. Read Psalms 1
Make your decisions based on who and what is godly. Romance and deceit commonly go together.
As to the deceit perpetrated upon women, let it pass, for, when love is in the way, men and women as a general rule dupe each other. Giacomo Casanova
And I would add, themselves and everyone would oppose them. Problems show up when people become attracted to somebody. In the family situation some children sneak out and deceive parents e.g., they talk in code, they insist that parents don't understand, but guess what, YOU ARE WRONG!!
I have this on good authority. When you are doing right it makes your parents happy. If you parents are not pleased then the odds are that you are wrong.
Idiots tell you to spice up your life and pretend that it is good. Lose your inhibitions they say. Some people actually believe that to be deceived is to enjoy life. As long as they don't know it doesn't bother them and that is fine with them.
I am going to end this section with something that is specific to young men. God has warned us that romantic relationships should be built only with women who follow the ways that God identifies as His ways. Solomon - the wisest man - was not smart enough to debunk God's advice. Samson - the strongest man - was not strong enough to defeat God's advice. Jezebel made a fool out of Ahab and eventually her prophets sent him to his death. If you have any common sense you would believe God.
I have provided quotes from dead men to show that this is not new and has always been the case. I therefore suggest that if you are young and do not believe or think that it has skipped you, then all I can say is that it has been the human condition for millennia, and so you might want to reconsider.
Fear of aging
The other point to youth being deceptive has to do with the fear of aging. Society only pays attention to the young and attractive. People want to recapture youth and beauty. For women and men it is the perfect physique. Women have additional issues like the perfect face, perfect hair etc.
I took the following information from <http://www.canada.com/topics/lifestyle/story.html?id=86e196ee-f3fa-45c7-812f-aaf5f96b7187> on Sunday, 06 March 2011
...The report, Beauty at any Cost, noted U.S. women spent some $7 billion a year, or an average of about $100 each, on cosmetics and beauty products
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That $100 a month, if saved and invested for five years, would pay for a full year of tuition and fees at a public college, the report calculated.
...Nearly 11.7 million cosmetic surgical and nonsurgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2007 -- a 446 percent increase in 10 years, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Surgery
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It also stated that Botox injections and liposuction are the most popular nonsurgical and surgical procedures.
The report cites other research linking smoking to attempts by women and girls to control their weight. It notes that some ingredients in U.S. cosmetics, such as hair sprays and nail polishes, contain phthalates that have been shown to cause liver and reproductive system damage in animals.
Trying to stay young is living a lie. Trying to stay healthy and vibrant is another matter. Some advice on the internet is.
- Exercise regularly
- Watch your diet
- Keep your mind active and interested in outside affairs
- Do something for others maybe as a service
- Be interested in the activities of family and friends
- Go out to dinner and travel if possible
- Don't feel sorry for yourself
For we are consumed in thine anger, And in thy wrath are we troubled. 8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, Our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. 9 For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: We bring our years to an end as a sigh. 10 The days of our years are threescore years and ten, Or even by reason of strength fourscore years; Yet is their pride but labor and sorrow; For it is soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who knoweth the power of thine anger, And thy wrath according to the fear that is due unto thee?
We have more to be concerned about than looking youthful and being trendy.