Knowing Yourself

Knowing what you want puts you in a position to make concrete decisions that you will not regret tomorrow.

In many African countries youth are being used as weapons to threaten those opposing whichever political leader or movement. It sincerely breaks my heart to see my fellow youth in the forefront during riots, political demonstrations and other un-Christian events.

So I ask myself: If we all had known ourselves—what we really need, and above all what God wants from us as His children—would these things have been happening?

Challenges for African youth

Here in Malawi we have had many cases like political demonstrations, vandalizing development properties as a way of showing disapproval of a certain development, etc. In most cases, the aftermath of these events favors those in power and leaves the young demonstrators with a feeling of worthlessness and separation from others.

The fact that most African countries are poor has made the youth vulnerable many kinds of manipulation as they seek “chances” to make ends meet. From my personal viewpoint, I see the African youth’s image and future being tarnished by the pleasures of the world which only last for a moment.

The bad side of these so-called chances may not be recognized unless you know yourself. For example, as a youth who fears God you choose to be different from the world. You are able to make concrete decisions—like decisions not to harm the relationship between you and God.

The danger of adaptability

Living in a world filled with different people of different beliefs, including atheism, can easily make us forget what we want and who we are as youth. One thing that youth are good at is making friendships because we are able to change and adapt easily. We adapt to suit the environment we are in. Being in a group of non-God-fearing friends increases our chances of forgetting who we are.

The other thing that youth adapt to easily is modernity. We are so taken-in by the world. We want to listen to the music that everyone is listening to and we want to dress the way the popular ones do. We get so involved in social media programs that we love them more than the Bible. Then we end up being so busy with worldly things that we forget who we are (children of God) and what we ought to observe and follow.

Vertical thinking needed

We all need to think vertically and not be so much taken by things that are not what we believe in. Choose to be different—like Joseph, Daniel and his friends, David and all those good mentors in the Bible.