Have you ever been in a situation where you had to make a split second decision? It may not have been on a tv game show, but at some point in your life there has been a moment when it felt like you only had a couple of seconds to make a decision. “Think fast” is an expression for a reason.
Unfortunately, the best decisions are rarely made in the spur of the moment unless your life resembles an action movie. Your young Bible students have the additional burden of being in a stage of life when fitting in and make the same choices as everyone else seems like the only way to survive. So not only do they feel the pressure of making an instantaneous decision, but also making the same choice as everyone else faced with the same question in that moment.
As adults, while we know it is also possible to overthink a choice, we have hopefully learned that only literal life and death choices need to be made instantaneously. For every other choice, we can take a few extra seconds, minutes, hours or days to really think through all angles and possible repercussions of each possibility. Often many of us had to learn that the hard way by making some incredibly poor choices too quickly.
So how can you get your tween and teen Bible students to slow down enough to make better choices? Teach them to a.ways STOP before making a choice.
- Stop. Literally say or do nothing for at least a few seconds after being offered a choice.
- Take the time to breathe in and out slowly while praying a quick breath prayer for God’s guidance.
- Options. List all of the possible options in this scenario. Studies have found people often believe there are only two or three options in a situation. Often the best answer or choice is number four or five.
- Pray a quick breath prayer for God’s wisdom and guidance.
While this sounds daunting, with practice the entire process may only take a few seconds for simple decisions. In fact, encourage them to practice with easy choices where they already “know” the “right” answer. (Who knows? They may find an even better one!) Remind them that it is better to ask for a little extra time and get guidance and advice than to make a quick decision that may have negative repercussions for the rest of their lives.