Unlocked: Daily Devotions for Teens

READ: JOHN 1:12; 16:25-33; ROMANS 8:14-17; 1 JOHN 3:1

It seemed like a good idea at the time: jumping from the chair in our pre-school Sunday school class. But I changed my mind in mid-air, reaching my arm toward the floor to break the fall. I did break the fall; I also broke my little three-year-old arm in the process.

Just as the pain rocketed through my body and I began wailing, my teacher, Miss Diane, scooped me up in her arms. She held me close, whispering reassuring words. I looked in Miss Diane’s face and saw such tenderness that, all these years later, it’s her compassion that stands out in my memory more than the injury.

Our lives sometimes surprise us with pain that seems to come out of nowhere—much like my broken arm that resulted from Sunday morning playtime. Sometimes we experience loss and hurt due to our own mistakes or sins; other times, we’re wounded (physically or emotionally) because others harm us; and often, we go through pain simply because we live in a broken world.

Even after we’ve placed our faith in Jesus to pay the penalty for our sins and we’ve received God’s forgiveness, we’re not immune to troubles and disappointments. Jesus Himself knew pain during His life on earth. Isaiah 53:3 refers to Him as “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

But, as God’s much-loved children, we can count on His presence with us throughout our lives—especially during the most painful times. He’s near to the broken-hearted (Psalm 34:18), and He’s the good Shepherd who restores our souls (Psalm 23:3; John 10:11). Like Miss Diane comforted me during my tears and agony, Jesus remains close in our suffering so that, in Him, we may have peace. • Allison Wilson Lee

• Has any hurt slammed into your life recently? Do you have long-term pain or grief from a past event? Consider taking some time to tell Jesus about this. Remember, He can relate to our loss.

• What difference can it make to know that Jesus is close when we feel broken? Do you feel like you can trust Him for that? Why or why not?

[Jesus said,] “Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.” John 16:32 (NLT)

READ: GENESIS 1:26-27; PSALM 139:13-17; ZEPHANIAH 3:17; EPHESIANS 2:4-10

I shouldn’t have even brought this into the fitting room, Makenna thought. Dresses like these don’t look good on girls like me.

But her friends hadn’t understood her hesitation. They were trying on prom dresses and thought she should do the same. Tears stung in Makenna’s eyes as she took a glance in the mirror. She hated her size and shape. She wished she looked like her friends.

“Come out and show us,” the other girls called.

Makenna swallowed. “It doesn’t fit right. I must have grabbed the wrong size.”

“What size do you need? I’ll go get it.”

“No!” Makenna tugged on the zipper at the back of the dress. “I’m done for today.”

When she stepped out of the fitting room in her t-shirt and jeans, the other girls were all wearing the dresses they’d found. To Makenna, they looked perfectly petite and happy.

Makenna slouched into a chair in the corner of the room, wishing she could be like them.

Many of us have felt this way. Maybe your story isn’t exactly the same, but it’s close. Maybe you feel ugly. Maybe you think that you’re too fat or too thin or that you don’t belong with your friends. Maybe you’ve even felt unworthy of God’s love because of how you look.

But your worth and the love God has for you are not based on your appearance. The truth is, God created you in His image, and He loves you so much. You are precious to Him. So precious that He came to die and rise again to save you from sin and death. When Jesus returns, He will make all things new, and all the pain and heartache that sin causes will be gone forever. But until that day, even though worldly beauty standards will continue to change based on where and when we live, our worth and beauty in the eyes of Jesus will never change. We can rest securely in Him, knowing that our worth is found not in what other people think of us—or even what we think of ourselves—but in the love of our Creator and Savior. • Bethany Acker

• We all struggle with feeling uncomfortable in our own bodies from time to time, and Jesus has so much compassion on us. Consider taking some time to ask Him to help you see yourself how He sees you—and to see others how He sees them too.

• If you’re struggling to see your worth, who is a trusted Christian you could talk to about this?

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:10 (NLT)

READ: HEBREWS 12:1-13

Ask any athlete at any level, and he or she can discuss the value of home field advantage. Cheering, screaming, clapping, frenzied fans make a difference to athletes. Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, or Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium—these are tough places for visiting teams to play. But they’re amazing venues for the home team, elevating teams to victory on the voices of their fans.

What does this have to do with our faith? Home field advantage can remind us of a powerful truth we find in the Bible. Several passages metaphorically describe the Christian faith as running a race. Hebrews 12:1 even offers the image of a packed stadium, describing it as “a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us.” While there will be fatigue, pain, setbacks, and losses, we can be encouraged by that great cloud of witnesses, which includes the people mentioned in Hebrews 11. They are cheering us on, exhorting us to keep our eyes on Jesus to win the race, just as they ran and finished it before us (Hebrews 12:2).

Here’s the great irony in the cloud of witnesses cheering us to victory. We’re running in a packed stadium today because Christ paid the price on a lonely hill called Calvary. He had no home field advantage. He was crucified alongside two criminals. There were a few hardened Roman guards and a few supporters, including His mother. All the fans Jesus seemed to have during His ministry had deserted Him.

But a few days later, alone in a tomb, Jesus overcame death and threw off the burial clothes. What He accomplished on a hostile hilltop—and then alone in the dark of a tomb—has enabled us to run the race before us. Not only that, but we have a stadium full of cheering fans. • Mike Hurley

• Look at the list of some of the witnesses in Hebrews 11. Who are some of the people cheering for you?

• What can Hebrews 11:1–12:13 tell us about running the race of the Christian life?

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus. Hebrews 12:1-2 (CSB)

READ: EXODUS 34:29-35; 2 CORINTHIANS 3:7-18

When you know someone well, you generally know how they’ll act. Your dog will bark at anyone who walks by, your teacher will stand in front of the class to teach, etc. But what if your teacher started doing handstands in class, or your dog started meowing? That might be a little strange.

In Exodus 34, there was something strange about Moses. His face literally glowed! Verse 29 tells us this happened to Moses “because he had spoken with the LORD.” Speaking with God—having a real encounter with Him—made Moses seem weird to his friends and family.

When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave, He changed everything. If we’ve put our trust in Jesus, we are now saved from the power of sin. This good news changes us! We might not have glowing faces like Moses did, but we will become more like Christ as we get to know our Savior. We will start loving others better, being kind to those who aren’t kind to us, speaking truth instead of lies, and glorifying God in all areas of our lives.

Moses had to cover his glowing face, but now that Jesus has come, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “we all…with unveiled faces…are being transformed into his [Jesus’s] image with ever-increasing glory.” As we grow in our relationship with Jesus, we don’t want to hide the things God is doing in our lives because we want others to know what we have in Jesus and to perhaps draw near to Him too. We might still be afraid it will change our friendships, our family relationships, or our social status, but all of that is worth the love and peace we find in Jesus.

Being like Jesus will sometimes mean we seem as strange as a dog who meows. Yet, we can find comfort in verses like 1 Peter 3:14: “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.” Why are we blessed? Because we have a relationship with Jesus—He is our hope, and He is always with us. Let’s pray God will grant us courage to be more like Jesus, even if it means people will notice—and maybe even think we’re strange. • Kristi Dennis

• Have your friends ever told you that you’re weird or that what you were doing wasn’t normal? What made you seem so different to them?

• Why does following Jesus mean we will sometimes seem very different to people who don’t know Him? (If you want to dig deeper, read Acts 4:29-31; Romans 12:14-21; 1 Peter 2:12; 3:8-18)

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)

READ: ISAIAH 53; JOHN 20:24-28; REVELATION 21:1-5

Jayden stood outside the Renewal Center, staring at the glowing sign. A fresh start. No more pain. No more grief.

Everyone said it was the best decision he’d ever make. Just one session, and all the hurt would be gone.

His fingers tightened around the cross pendant at his neck. Could he really let it all go?

He closed his eyes. His dad’s steady voice reading the psalms. His mom’s soft humming in the kitchen. The warmth of his childhood church. And then—sirens, phone calls, the crushing weight of loss.

He had begged God to take the pain away. Now, here was his chance.

A beep sounded. “Next,” the receptionist called.

Jayden stepped inside. The air smelled sterile, the machines humming softly. A woman in a lab coat smiled at him.

“You’ll feel a small pinch, and then—peace.”

Jayden hesitated. Then he noticed something. The people leaving…they did seem happy, but they weren’t just happy. They were empty.

Would he forget the nights he had clung to God, desperate for strength? The moments when God’s love felt so near, even in the midst of heartbreak? The kindness of strangers, the prayers that carried him? If he erased the pain, what else would disappear?

His heart pounded.

“I can’t,” he whispered.

The technician frowned. “Why?”

Jayden swallowed hard. “Because my pain wasn’t pointless. God used it to shape me. He showed me that He stays close beside me, even in the pain. If I forget everything, I lose that too.”

The woman’s smile flickered. “That’s your choice.”

Jayden turned and walked out. The grief was still there. But so was his faith. And he would never trade that.

A small smile tugged at his lips as he walked away. Thank you, Jesus, for never forgetting me. • Olamide Agemo

• Today’s story is science fiction. If you had the option to erase your painful memories, would you want to?

• How does our past shape who we are?

• Isaiah 53:3-4 calls Jesus “a man of suffering, and familiar with pain…Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering.” Jesus faced the excruciating pain of the cross. He also went through other terrible things, like loss, rejection, anxiety, and violence. All of this physical, emotional, and spiritual pain was worth it to Jesus because He loves us—so much so that He would do whatever it took to rescue us from sin and death and make the way for us to be with Him forever (John 3:16-17; Hebrews 12:2; 1 Peter 3:18). How can it give us comfort to know that Jesus faced all this on the cross for us to ultimately free us from our pain, and also to stand in solidarity with us in our present pain? (For more about this good news, see our "Know Jesus" page.)

• When Jesus rose from the dead, He had a new resurrected body, yet He still bore the marks where the nails were driven into His hands and the spear was plunged into His side. Why do you think God chose to keep the marks of crucifixion on His resurrected body?

• If we know Jesus, we always have hope when we experience pain. God is so good and He loves us so much that He promises to use everything for the good of those who love Him, even our suffering (Romans 5:3-5; 8:28-29, 38-39). When Jesus returns, He’ll make all things new, free from sin, death, and all the brokenness sin causes (Revelation 21:1-5). Until that day, He invites us to be honest with Him about all our pain and grief—knowing that He weeps alongside us and holds us close in His love (Matthew 11:28-30; John 11:32-35; Romans 8:38-39). Consider taking some time to talk to Jesus about your pain, past or present. Instead of trying to forget,...