I. Consider the influence of the family.

A. Know where the families in your church stand.

B. To growing kids, what Mom and Dad say and/or do is more important than what you say.

C. The convictions you teach must:

1. Be preached by your pastor from the pulpit.
2. Have a broad base of acceptance by the reasonable, general population of Christian adults in your church. Without this, it becomes a very harmful double standard.

II. Teaching convictions to young people must be a long-term goal of the church.

A. Teach to young children through college-age young people.

B. Edify means to “build up,” and building takes time and step-by-step procedures.

C. Write out your goals.

D. Find out with a survey where your young people are today.

E. Formulate a plan to meet the goals.

F. Organize to carry out your plan.

G. Provide leadership in carrying out the plan.

H. Evaluate and correct to stay on track with your goals.

III. In order to teach convictions to young people, you must become an expert on how to understand and know young people.  Remember that there are at least six levels, at least six ways to teach, and at least six ways to handle kids.

IV. While in the process of teaching convictions to teens, you must abide by the following principles.

A. Be honest with the teens.

B. Be honest with the Scriptures (Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19; Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32).

C. Do not be afraid to say, “I don’t know.”

D. Do not be afraid to allow teens to ask hard questions.

E. Encourage the teens to search the Scriptures to see “whether those things [are] so” (Acts 17:11).

F. Always maintain the authority of the Scriptures.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. —2 Timothy 3:16-17

G. Know your own motives for wanting to teach certain convictions.

H. Be sure to provide something to fill the apparent void.

V. Use good teaching techniques (Philippians 4:9).

Heard (Teaching by Word and precept) + Seen (Teaching by example) = Received (Mental acceptance and agreement) = Learning and Doing (Action and attitude)

VI. Teach the following things:

A. The necessity for each person at some time in his life to decide what his convictions are, preferably before pressure points are reached

B. The doctrine of separation found in each book of the Bible

Young people should grow up thinking it is normal for a Christian not to be conformed to this world.

C. The difference between Bible absolutes and Bible principles

1. Activity checklist—Develop a list of possible activities that the Scripture clearly teaches are either right or wrong, such as premarital sex vs. sex within marriage.
2. Scriptural principles for questionable activities—Develop a list of Scripture passages one can use to derive principles for activities not specifically mentioned in Scripture. The following is a list of principles one could go through when trying to determine if a questionable activity is right or wrong for him.

• What does it look like (1 Thessalonians 5:22)?
• Does it cause someone else to sin (Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 8; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33)?
• Lay aside not only sins but also every weight that keeps us from being the best possible Christian (Hebrews 12:1).
• Make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:16-22).
• If it is doubtful, it is dirty (Romans 14:23; James 4:17).
• A Christian should be separate from the world (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; Romans 12:2;
  1 John 2:15-17).
• Does it glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31)?
• Would Jesus Christ have done it (1 Peter 2:21)?
• Would you be ashamed if Jesus Christ came and found you doing it (1 John 2:28)?
• Can you feel free to do it when you remember that God the Holy Spirit dwells within you (1 Corinthians 6:19)?
• Is it fitting conduct for a child of God (Romans 2:24; Colossians 1:10)?

D. How to use biblical principles in forming convictions

1. Help them learn how to reasonably apply biblical principles in establishing standards and rules for themselves.
2. Help them to understand that other good fundamental Christians may make a different application and thus have differing convictions.

E. The differences between biblical convictions and personal preferences

F. The higher responsibility of leadership