The Christian Habits Podcast

“Thank you” for saying everything you said to the young 13 year old girl who left her feelings in a review, last month. Now to the young and honest brave, Girl💗 My goodness, your wisdom in what you shared is beyond your years.. Honey, please know, how you feel is normal! I mean between the raging hormones and being a teen these days, we can all agree how hard it must be for kids today. Back in my day, one of the worst things was you wouldn’t get picked until last or next to the last in gym class. True story! And unfortunately, I spent way to much time worrying about it, that it cost me my self esteem and with no esteem there wasn’t a lot of courage, just a lot of jealousy that I had years of praying that God take that away.. and guess what? He did🙏 Now , fast forward to 2024. I have a beautiful little 2 year old grandson, that I worry about. And wonder what will this next future generation will be like and my heart breaks you all! Please know that I will pray for you, and ask the God of the universe - The creator of All things- The God of the Old Testament, The Lord of Heaven, If He, would reveal himself to you do you feel His presence. That He will guide your steps, leading you in your life, All the days of your life. Praying God will put the right friends in your life, for LIFE!! That love & worshipJesus. Lord, thank you for directing my eyes tonight so I as well can lift this in prayer. Lord, you know the only reason I stumbled across this tonight was because of all the apps on my phone. LOL then finding “ The, I deserve a donut” app, that I forgot I had when scrolling.

Hi! I’m 13 years old. I have been sort of sad lately. I almost never read the Bible. I almost never pray. I go to church on Sunday, then go home and play Roblox. I feel so lost when it comes to Christianity. I have been having doubts and fear, and as a Christian it’s scary to have doubts in the first place. I feel bad about myself all the time, because I am not enough for God. That’s what I tell myself, at least. I even recently have been feeling like I am transgender, and want to be a boy so much. I am really scared to share how I feel though, and don’t really want to be trans or feel trans in the first place. For me, having doubts is scary. I feel like I am not a functional Christian. I feel like there is some rubric I am not following, one path to righteousness that I can’t seem to grasp. What do I do? One of the things that made me start feeling this way was my old church’s youth group. When I graduated from the 6th grade class into the 7th-12th youth group, all the kids seemed to instantly be best friends. They all wanted to hang out on the weekend, loved similar things, and seemed like perfect Christians without doubts at all. They read their Bibles, they prayed, and I struggled to do that at all. I started comparing myself to them, and that’s when everything went downhill. We ended up changing churches, and the one I go to now is an Episcopal church! I like it much better! I still remember the youth group girls though. So perfect and simple. I was weird, had doubts, and wasn’t perfect or simple. I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to slip away from God. I don’t want to be a failed Christian. I don’t want to tell my parents how I feel. I don’t know what I want to do, other than play Roblox. I don’t know if there is anyone who will read this review, or care, but if someone does and can respond using a review, I’d love some help. Please pray for me, and I’ll try to pray for you as well. Let me just work up the courage. Will I ever be normal? Will I ever be a good Christian? Why am I so lost? I guess I’ll just try praying and see what happens. I sure hope something happens.

Hey, I just started listening to this podcast & I saw a 13yo’s review from last month & wanted to reply… My name is Rachel & I am a mom to some little ones, but I also have two nieces who are about your age. I hope you can feel like I’m talking to you as an aunt or a big sister. :) First of all: God loves you so much, darling girl! He sees you & He honors your precious desires to follow Him. Your honesty is admirable. You said you don’t feel you are enough for God - that’s actually *true*, because our sin causes us to not be good enough. HOWEVER, Jesus died so our sin would be covered by His sacrifice. HE is good enough, & He covers YOU (if you have made that decision to follow Him), so you don’t HAVE to be good enough. You have a relationship with God because of GRACE, & everything you do from here on out is a step of obedience in turning away from your sins. HE is enough for YOU, sweet girl. The “rubric” to follow is to continually repent of your sins & change your ways to those that please Him… all the while thanking Him & enjoying His grace to allow you & help you to do that! The Bible helps us to see our sins, know Who He is & what He is like, as well as who we are in Him. You can start small, like a verse a day! Or get a devotional that’s for preteen/teen girls! That can be really helpful for applying His Word to your current life season. :) As far as the girls at your old church - it is so hard when you feel like an outsider! I promise you, everyone has their things they struggle with or feel insecure about. I was not in the “in crowd” in my youth group either; I had to find other “outsiders” to be my friends. But I did! And those years are precious memories. I am so glad you feel more comfortable at your new church - when you remember those negative feelings at your old church, try to let it go & thank God for your new community. As for the transgender feelings, it is natural to question & wonder & imagine all of these things. You said you’d really like to be a boy, but then you also said you don’t WANT to feel this way or be trans. Being a teenager is HARD, & being content with who God made you to be is a massive part of that. I would Google some articles about your identity in Christ, & post those verses up around your room! Or read them before you go to bed at night! Psalm 139 is a good place to start. Going forward, I think the absolute best thing you can do is talk to a trusted adult. Sometimes it is easier to talk to your parents, & sometimes it is easier to talk to someone outside the family (a youth minister, a teacher, etc.). I would recommend your parents first — even if I don’t know them, I’d be willing to bet they love you SO much & want to hear every concern you have. They know you best out of anyone. They have struggled with a lot of the same things you are!!! Do you tell them other things? Like when you felt different from the girls at your old youth group? Or if you’re worried about something at school? Do you tell them things you are excited about? Ask them questions about God? If so, I think they are a safe place for you to share all of this. If you don’t know where to start, maybe just straight up read what you wrote here to us!!! Or even show it to them so they can read! They can help walk you through your feelings & perceptions, & support you. If you don’t feel your parents are the best place to start, talk to a family member or teacher or church leader! It seems like you really want to know God & please Him, so trying to find someone who also loves God is going to be important. Don’t do this alone, sweetheart! God didn’t make us to be able to just do it all by ourselves. We need each other. You’re going to be okay!!! Keep your eyes on Jesus!!!! He is enough for a teenage girl, or a mama of littles, or a grandmother fighting cancer. He will be with you in every challenge of your life, including this one. Love and hugs to you baby girl.

I’ve listened to every episode all over again this week while I worked in the garden… it’s my favorite podcast. So many helpful reminders and ideas to think on and apply. Blessing. Thanks, Barb