Of course, you won’t be able to stop every bad thing. However, your most important role is not in stopping the outside forces from getting in. It’s to keep those you shepherd from getting being tempted by the outside world.
God can take bad things and make it good, of course. Take Joseph. His brothers hated him, and sold him into slavery. His dad thought he was dead. Yet, God took that evil and turned it into something good. (Genesis 50:20) Joseph wound up down in Egypt, and saved his whole family from starving to death. If God allows bad things to happen, it’s because He’s got a wonderful plan to come out of it.
However, especially if they’re younger brothers and sisters, God will generally want you protecting those you shepherd. We’ll talk more about temptation in a few pages, but here are some important tips.
First, always know where those you shepherd will be. You should also let others know where you will be. And, you should be truthful and expect others to be truthful about those things. This is for protection, as the world is full of evil. It’s also so you can monitor and give consent for those you have authority over to go places. We’ll see in Part III that some young people actually have to be the “parents” in a situation. And, even if you don’t with most things, if your parents aren’t insisting that you stay out of dangerous areas, you need to police yourself and ohers.
Part of this is to ensure that they don’t feel tempted to join in. One of the keys to remember in this situation is this: People whow ant you to commit crimes are not your friends. They only want to use you.
You have a friend in Jesus who will always be with you. One who will guide you toward the right people, the ones who wil help you with everything. Yes, sometimes the devil tries to provide easy answers. He will sometimes use those you love to do it, because they themselves are deceived. However, Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And, He will always be on your side. That’s why prayer is so great.
