10 Bible Verses for Navigating Life with Your Teen

Parents, are you wishing you could find some common ground with your teenager? Or, maybe all is well today, but yesterday was tumultuous, and tomorrow is yet unknown? I can totally relate. My daughter is the mom of a teenager now. And, I can see that as it has always been, navigating teen years is still difficult for both parent and child.

But there is hope!Today, I’d like to share with you my top 10 Bible verses for navigating life with your teen. I’ve found these verses to be comforting and helpful in relating with my own when she was a teen and now also with my “grand.”

1. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. God’s resources are infinite and mine are not. I can trust Him to give me the physical, emotional and spiritual strength I need for every day.
2. Matthew 28:20b I am with you always, even to the very end of the age. Jesus will be with me every step of the way as I parent my teen. Even past the teen years! So I will trust Him.
3. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. I am thankful that God gives to me without finding fault. In this verse, I’m encouraged and challenged. Encouraged that wisdom is mine simply by asking. Challenged that I will strive to be as gracious to my child as God is to me…to give without finding fault. I believe that sets the stage for receiving more wisdom and for finding a better footing with my teen.
4. 2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. God’s Word is unfailing. It is a roadmap to blessings through righteous living for my life as well as my teen’s. Just as I must study it in order for me to benefit by it, I must also present the Word to my teen as a loving guide book from a loving God for a good and fulfilling life.
5. 2 Corinthians 12:9 My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. When I am weak and tired, my adverse response is to withdraw. Even from the ones I love. But in this verse, I am reminded that in those times, I need to instead find a quiet place to pray and allow Jesus’ strength to fill me up so I can be with my loved ones. Jesus often withdrew to a quiet place for prayer. Don’t you imagine that He was weak and tired and needed God’s strength to carry on? I want His perfect strength to show off in me when I am weak. I want the grace He gives me to be poured out from me to my teen. What better example can I model of Christ’s love for them?
6. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need. The confidence referred to in this verse is that of being bold, courageous, assured in the knowledge that you are acceptable to God. Grace is love freely given to us. Mercy is compassion given when punishment is deserved. In coming before the Lord confidently to confess my failings and pour out my concerns, the Lord, in His great love and compassion receives me. He shows me how to also receive my teen in the same manner. We want them to know they can approach us. We also want them to know that the Lord is their heavenly parent, waiting for them with open arms.
7. Romans 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, neither anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This verse is so powerful. It tells me that I have no reason to fear anything because His love is so much greater than the sum of all my fears. So when I have doubts or fears to arise concerning my teen, I lean in to Jesus. His perfect love casts out fear. I also want my teen to know this verse and that they can stand confident and fearless in the situations they face daily.
8. Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. This verse is so necessary for us as adults, isn’t it? Also for our teens. My teen needs to know there is something absolute in life, and that God has a plan for them that will not fail. They need to know they can always trust Him.
9. Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Giving 100% in all we do pays off. I have only the time in this life to accomplish what God has planned for me to do. His plan deserves my 100%. His blessings are my reward. Again, this is a wonderful attribute to model to my teen.
10. Psalm 119:97-99. Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes. I love this one passage of scripture. It’s one I used in a class of teens at Bible School one year. They truly enjoyed that particular class. I highly recommend it for your teen because of the layers of concepts within it: benefits of meditating on God’s Word and scripture memorization, gaining wisdom in all circumstances, creative and insightful thinking, and understanding the wisdom of God’s laws and statutes.

I hope these 10 verses will be a springboard for you of fresh energy and creativity in parenting your teen. You may have already thought of other verses you would like to add for yourself, your teen or both of you. But here is a bonus from me:
Ephesians 3:16-19 I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. I am praying this for you. Why don’t you try inserting your teen’s name in this scripture as you pray for them daily? I know the Lord has remarkable things in store for both of you! May God bless you as you minister in the common ground of God’s Word to the teen in your household.