NOTE: The following catechism is for high school boys. It should be recited at the beginning of every school day.

Why must I put off childish things and stand firm in the faith, like a man?

Christianity is not for wimps. It is a religion with a particular kind of calling. Our Lord was tortured and crucified (Mark 15:6-41). The one who prepared his path was beheaded (Mt. 14:1-12). Those who preached the gospel were thrown in prison (Acts 12:1-19; 21:27) and killed (John 21:18; Acts 12:2). Who are we to think we deserve better (Mt. 10:24)?

Why should I put off the childish temptation to not try?

Not trying is living in the diffident shadow of passivity. It is waking up each day with as much purpose as a squirrel crossing the road. It is living with all the grandeur of a “get-by,” doing just enough to “get by.” The way to maturity is to live like a ferocious archangel, full of incontestable purpose.

How do I not squander my teenage years?

Rather than relaxing in the yawning pit of slumber, I will stir up the dubiousness of my heart and awaken Christian conviction. I won’t passively wait for life to happen. I will banish the flavor of wickedness on my pallet and spit it out with repulsion. I am a covenant child who belongs to the Lord. I have received this gift at my baptism. It is my job now to live with faith.

What is a pointless life?

A pointless life involves no sacrifice, no discipline, and no courage.

From where does purpose come?

Purpose is not something I create. It is something I receive from the Lord. Each Christian receives different talents and gifts which establish their role in God’s Kingdom. Yet each Christian, united to Christ by faith, has the same responsibility to worship and obey the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do I live with spiritual purpose?

The only way is to depend entirely upon the grace of God, which, through faith in Jesus, covers my sin and enables my fight against it. Faithfulness is as active as ants. It is the virtue of drinking up as much living water as each situation spouts. It requires exceptional vigilance, which is why I pray for the Holy Spirit’s help.

How do I live with intellectual purpose?

I purpose in my heart to work hard, to read, study, learn, think, write, speak, and gain wisdom to more fully align my life with Scripture.

How do I live with moral purpose?

To grow in Christlikeness is to grow in obedience. First Timothy 4:12 says, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” This means that when I speak foolish words, live sinfully, and reject faith, I deserve to be despised. The way to be admired in the Kingdom of God is to have virtue in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.

How will I learn to live with biblical virtue?

I will find and imitate those Christians who have more active virtue than I do, who obey Christ more than I do, who speak more wisdom than I do, who live in the light more than I do, who love sacrificially more than I do, who pray in faith more than I do, and who walk in purity more than I do.

What does it mean to live a life of sacrifice?

Sacrifice is when I voluntarily give myself to help another person, at a cost to myself. It is serving another person freely, without compulsion or calculation. The man from Nazareth is the perfect example of the sacrificial life, which is painful and pleasurable at the same time. The result is something more than heady contemplation. It is adventure. It is blood, sweat, and tears.

How do I repent of a lifestyle of entitlement?

I spurn entitlement when I take my share of responsibility. I will thrust myself into the intellectual fracas, the moral melee, and the spiritual skirmish. Christ was a joyful warrior (Heb. 12:2) and I can be too. The ethic of responsibility is always accompanied by the ethic of conviction. The one does not exist without the other. The reason many teenagers don’t take responsibility is because they lack conviction. Biblical convictions lead to decisions that please the Lord. Convictions that lead elsewhere are fraudulent.

What does it mean to have godly ambition?

It begins with a hunger for meaning and purpose, and a corresponding vision of how to proceed in constructing a life that matches. Since building a meaningful life takes intentional effort, I will not default to the easier way but will take the trouble to cultivate the desires, dreams, and ambitions befitting a child of God.

How do I begin preparing for marriage?

Since wives are told to respect their husbands (Eph. 5:33) and submit to them (Eph. 5:22-25), I must, in God’s power, become a respectable man who thinks slothful people are dull and social media is a waste of time. I will seek the counsel of others (Prov. 11:14), keep good company (Prov. 13:20), work hard (Prov. 6:6), pursue knowledge (Prov. 2:1-5), guard my tongue (Prov. 4:24), and respect the Word of God (Ps. 119:9) as I prepare to earn the respect of my future wife.

Why is the common mantra “you do you” foolish?

“You do you” means that truth is constructed in my image. It means each person is free to create their own unique meaning in a world devoid of universal meaning. This is why “truth” is equated with authenticity, which means fulfilling your lusts without external constraint. “You do you” doesn’t deliver on its promises. Self-indulgence never provides the meaning and satisfaction people seek. Only Jesus Christ can do that.

Why is obedience to God not legalism?

The gospel is more than a one-time experience. It is the power of Christ (Rom. 1:16) that brings divine order to disordered love. By faith in Christ, I am forgiven of my sins and declared righteous (Rom. 4:1-8). To submit to God’s righteousness is for the Spirit to re-habituate my life to acts of kindness, service, love, prayer, patience, rejoicing, reading God’s Word, testing everything, and abstaining from evil (1 Thess. 5:12-22). Or as Paul said, “The righteous shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). One evidence that I’m living in the righteousness of God, is I won’t have time or energy left for social media and pornography.

What does living the good life require?

Everyone must strive before they die to learn what they are running from, what they are running to, and why.

What do Christians run from, run to, and why?

Christians run from sin, death, and the devil. Christians run to Jesus Christ because, in the end, life offers only one tragedy: not to have been a child of God.

Jason Cherry is an elder at Trinity Reformed Church in Huntsville, Alabama, as well as a teacher and lecturer of literature, history, and economics at Providence Classical School in Huntsville. He graduated from Reformed Theological Seminary with an MA in Religion and is the author of the books The Culture of Conversionism and the History of the Altar Call and The Making of Evangelical Spirituality.