She loves it when she gets compliments for being such a “wonderful girl,” but when Lindsey is honest, she knows she’s become exceptional for what she doesn’t do. She doesn’t attend wild parties, cause trouble or want a tattoo. But what does she do? Is the Christian life all about avoiding “bad stuff,” or is it about doing “good, hard stuff” for God? Deep down Lindsey knows the answer, but she’s already praised for being such a godly girl. Isn’t that enough?

Fighting Low Expectations
Bre, a high school senior from Indiana, experienced low expectations firsthand. She, along with other young people, had participated in some community service projects and afterward gave a report to her church. Following the service she overheard a man saying, “Aren’t you glad these kids aren’t out smoking pot or drinking?”

“That comment just broke my heart,” Bre wrote to us, “because there truly is a level of mediocrity that has infiltrated not just our culture, but our churches as well.”

Being considered a good teen requires only that we don’t do bad stuff such as taking drugs, drinking and partying. But is it enough to be known for the negative things we don’t do, or should we also be known for the positive and difficult things that we do?

God’s Word is clear. Our culture’s standard of simply not doing bad stuff is really no standard at all. Psalm 1:1 tells us, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” A lot of people, though, seem to quit reading there and miss the rest of the sentence: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (verse 2).

Our culture seems to hear the don’ts but miss the do’s.

Living the Blessing
Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher of the 19th century, comments, “Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you—Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God’s Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand—your best companion and hourly guide?” If not, Spurgeon says, the blessing of Psalm 1 does not belong to you.

To live by God’s standards for young people and to enjoy the blessing He promises, we must get beyond simply avoiding bad stuff. To see this we need only look at 1 Timothy 4:12: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” We’re not just supposed to avoid sinning; we’re supposed to pursue righteousness in a way that others will want to imitate.

Jason, a 20-something from Florida, understands this principle well. He e-mailed us shortly after we started our blog (therebelution.com/blog/) and explained that he’d recently grown complacent with his life, just working his job and getting by.

“Not that a steady working life isn’t God’s plan for some,” Jason said, “but I was feeling empty and knew that God had more abundant plans for me. I knew He had some hard things for me to do.”

Jason realized that though he wasn’t headed in the wrong direction, he wasn’t exactly headed in the right direction either. He told us that now he’s planning to switch gears and attend law school with the goal of advocating for pro-life groups.

For Jason, doing hard things meant pursuing challenges that would cause him to grow. It meant going beyond what others required of him so he could become more effective in the Lord’s service. He wasn’t content to merely survive; he wanted to thrive.

Pursue Excellence, Not Excuses
Mary is a junior in high school. A strong Christian, she proudly puts to rest the idea that Christians are stupid and unpopular by being head of her class and co-captain of the cheerleading squad. Her parents, teachers and youth pastor all have big plans for her, and Mary has big plans for herself. But because things come easily for her, she’s become comfortable with her “standout” status. She doesn’t have to tell herself she’s great, because other people will do it for her, even when she hasn’t done anything particularly difficult. She’s above average without even trying, so she sees no reason to push herself.

Mary has fallen prey to the curse that low expectations place on talented people. She has gotten stuck doing what comes easily, because even things that are easy for her are impressive to others. In her mind, she has already arrived—yet she has never explored the true extent of her potential.

Am I Living Up to My Potential?
God’s standard is not for us to be the godliest person in a youth group filled with nominal Christians but to “be holy” because He is holy (1 Peter 1:16). God’s standard is not for us to be our teacher’s best helper but to be a “servant of all” (Mark 9:35).

God set His standards this high so that we won’t make the mistake of aiming low. He made them unreachable so that we would never have an excuse to stop growing.

We can identify complacency in our lives by asking ourselves the following hard questions and then answering them honestly:

• In what areas have I fallen short of God’s standards and my own potential?

• What areas of my life do I not care about that I know I should care about?

• In what areas have I settled for just getting by when I know I could do better if I really tried?

• In what areas have I decided that things “will always be this way” without ever putting in the kind of effort that really changes things?

These questions are difficult, because no one else can answer them for you. Only you know how much better you could be if you really tried.

Want to learn more? Read the whole book by ordering your own copy of Do Hard Things. The first 200 books sold are signed by 19-year-old twins and authors Alex and Brett Harris.