We live in a world where there are plenty of websites that can tell us how many stars that restaurant is, how that book rates, or how many rotten tomatoes a movie gets. This generation of teens are more connected to others opinions than ever before. They can avoid a bad game, movie, or even college professor because of the experience and opinions of others.
What is remarkable to me is how so many teens seem to still believe that they need to make moral mistakes for themselves to learn the life lessons.
So they will be more cautious and careful about how they spend money or where they spend their time than how they’re spending their life. Maybe it’s just one party, smoke, drink, relationship, or whatever, but there are still consequences for our actions.
I always like to remind my students that we can choose to ignore the commands of God but we don’t get to choose whether or not we’ll experience the consequences of ignoring them.
Now, of course, you can have plenty of opinions pointing you toward the wrong decisions. That’s why we all know that it’s not just about the opinions being given, but who’s giving them. Some can be trusted; others cannot.
I suppose that’s when you really need to think about who you’re listening to. Do they have enough experience to know what they’re talking about? Are they somewhere that you’d like to be? Are they trustworthy? Do they have your best interest in mind or are they self-serving? What do they gain/lose if I ignore/listen to them?
Then it’s up to you to make the decision. Are you going to listen to the thoughts of others or trust your own understanding alone? And if you listen to others, are you sure they’re the people you want to follow? Because sometimes you can spare yourself more than just a lost 2 hours to a movie, or a bad meal, but you can save yourself a world of pain and sadness just by listening to someone with a little wisdom.