In this post we review the top 10 books for the teenage years of a young people’s lives. Many young teens would have a greater start to life by going through them.
The older you grow and reflect back on your life there are some things you wish you had known sooner that would have put you in a better position today. It makes you realize what you could have done differently to enjoy a greater level of success today.
The days of your youth are some of the most important moments in life where life defining decisions are often made pertaining to your future. In my experience there are certain life lessons I believe can help any young person to get started on the right note to becoming what God created them to be in this world.
The following are 10 books I would encourage teenagers to invest in as they go through life:
1. The Holy Bible
The Holy Bible is the absolute number one book in the whole world. It’s not like an ordinary novel but it is God’s own word that comes alive when we read it. When you get born again as a believer God requires that you lead your life according to His commands.
Those commands are found in the Bible which is split in two categories- the Old Testament and New Testament. Make it a daily habit to meditate on His word that you lead a life honors Him and will bring prosperity.
2. The Pursuit
The focus of this book is the discovery of your God-given purpose and living it out for His glory. It was authored by famous actor TC Stallings, the lead male actor in the number one 2015 movie, War Room. The first part of the book chronicles his journey from pursuing a career in football which was his number one pursuit to becoming an actor and minister of the Word of God.
The second part talks about the steps he took to discover God’s purpose for his life that you can apply today in your life so you can live for God’s glory. The lessons shared are the difference between living a victorious life in Christ and a lack of fulfilment and frustration.
In all honesty you can’t just be ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE! God has a blueprint for your life such that if you follow it your life will be fulfilling. TC Stallings breaks it down for you really well in his book.
3. Rich Dad Poor Dad
Very few families ever talk about money intentionally the world over and no wonder why there’s so much poverty as a result. In Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling book you will learn the basics about how to become financially free and more importantly to become the right person to do so.
Money is not taught in schools and for the most part the average child never gets to understand how it works. The lack of financial education is the main reason why the majority of the world population struggles financially. Imagine if you learned the fundamentals at a young age how much brighter your future would look like?
Robert Kiyosaki takes complex money concepts and simplifies them in a way that the average Joe can understand and learn. In this book you will learn the difference between assets and liabilities, how to think like an entrepreneur, and the primary reason why you work (which might not be what you think.) Imagine if your kids and many others learned how to start and manage a business at a young age.
4. The Battle Plan for Prayer
Alex and Stephen Kendrick’s Battle Plan for prayer is a powerful book with many lessons about prayer that brings Heaven here on earth. Prayer in its most basic form is communication with God that enables you to connect with Heaven and effect change in your sphere of influence.
You will learn the different types of prayer, the names of God that describe who He is in your life, prayer strategies, why we are meant to pray and more. The Bible says you must train up your children in the way they should go so that when they are older they will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6)
Young men and women that seek the Lord in prayer at a young age become influential in their communities and beyond through the God’s power. The more young people in your circles that seek God wholeheartedly the brighter the future will look and it all starts in prayer.
5. Sexual Integrity
In Jewish culture young boys are considered men when they turn thirteen years of age and begin to learn principles of manhood at that time. Young women too begin to mature and grow as they enter into one of the most challenging phases of a young person’s life.
As a parent or guardian you would do well to educate your teenagers about sex. In Edwin Cole’s classic book, Sexual Integrity, he speaks about the subject of sex – what it is, its purpose, its sacred nature and the problems that can arise when it’s out of control.
In today’s world that gives young people exposure to many things it’s important to intentionally teach them about the subject and not learn from people with agendas to destroy their lives via the media. This book is a good tool you can use to save young people’s lives and educate them about the importance of staying pure until they get married.
6. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
Developing children’s leadership ability at a young age teaches them to be responsible as they grow up and to work well with other people. Being a leader provides big opportunities for growth and to become a more effective person. John C Maxwell’s book, ‘The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership’ is one of the best books I know to learn this valuable subject.
Put this book in your children’s hands and you will give them a head start in life. They will learn that in order to go up in life they have to learn to serve other people and help solve their problems. In most organizations and institutions the idea of leadership is that of having authority figures that demand to be served by their subordinates instead of the other way around.
The more our children and young people learn the essence of servant leadership the better equipped they will become to create positive change in their communities.
7. The Great Connection
The Bible says in John 4:24, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” This is the essence of true worship and leads to a life of a great and fulfilling relationship with God. In, ‘The Great Connection,’ Bonnie Deuschle teaches how we ought to praise and worship God as He commands in the scriptures.
She teaches that as human beings we are created to praise. If you’re not praising God you’re bound to praise someone or something else instead. The teachings are based on seven Hebrew words for praise and how you can apply them to effectively praise and worship God in your life.
Young people are bound to worship celebrities and anyone deemed to be worthy to follow in the world; However, this book will teach you who your praise and worship must be directed to and how because you become what you behold.
8. MAP4LIFE
MAP4LIFE is an acronym for ‘My Action Plan for Life’ written by Glen McQuirk. It’s more a vision defining and goal setting tool to write the blueprint of your life and what God created you to be. As a civil engineer by training Glen McQuirk breaks down in simple terms how to discover the purpose God created you for on this earth.
His methodical approach to defining your purpose, identifying opportunities and challenges, setting goals, developing habits, managing money, etc. will help you to start living a life of purpose. Again, children are not taught in school how to set life changing goals and become what God created them to be.
This book is a great tool to put in their hands to help them discover God’s purpose for their lives. According to statistics about 3% of the entire world population become wealthy in life and it’s because they have well defined blueprints for their lives. Give yourself and your kids the head start they need to realize their full potential.
9. Talent is never Enough
This is another John C Maxwell classic that every young person would do well to read. For the most part young people assume that they only need to be good at something to make a success of themselves in their chosen area. This has to do with having a good intelligence quotient (IQ).
In reality they get to discover that it’s not always the case, however. They then realize that they have to develop the right character traits to complement their talents. While there’s a level of teaching about character in schools it’s not extensive enough to empower young people to make the right choices in their lives.
The book, ‘Talent is never Enough,’ teaches thirteen choices that you have to make in order to maximize your potential. While talent is great strength of character is that much more important to become all that God created you to be. The sooner you can learn these the more you can achieve by making the right choices in everything you do.
10. Courage
Another Edwin Cole classic about learning to be courageous from a young age. The focus is around examples of young people, in the Bible and modern day history, who did great exploits in the world for the Kingdom of God. Most young people shy away from stepping out and doing great things because they feel that they are not ‘mature’ enough to do them.
In one of Paul’s epistles to Timothy in the Bible he encourages him not to allow anyone to despise his youth. Understand that even if you’re younger than some people you can still set a positive example for them through your conduct. You will learn that maturity doesn’t come with age but with the acceptance of responsibility.
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The Holy Bible has become my compass around which everything else revolves because it is the Word of God. Everything I do or adopt in my life must align with the Word of God so that I don’t go astray. I learned early on that while personal development books are good, they have to align with God’s word. Some of them are misaligned in some ways so I’ve learned to be aware.
I have a daily routine of reading my Bible based on a daily reading program from our local church. It’s structured in such a way that we can read through the entire Bible in one year. The book of Proverbs is the one we read every day throughout the year. There’s a lot of wisdom that I get from reading them continually to help me make wise decisions daily.
I also love the Psalms that provide daily encouragement, particularly in times when faced with adversity. The Bible is unlike any other book because it’s living and active, God speaks to us as we read His word. There are many times when scriptures have jumped out at me as I’m reading and confirming what God requires of me. His word is the ultimate source of truth.
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The Pursuit by TC Stallings opened my eyes in a different way regarding how God already has a plan for my life. Many times I tried to come up with my plans and they never took me far in life. It was when God pulled the rug underneath my feet that I became more sensitive to what He wanted.
Following God’s plan is indeed a lot simpler than trying to do things our way. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. If He is my Creator, surely His plan and purpose for me are much better than mine. He knows me more than I know myself. While it hasn’t always been smooth sailing, following Jesus is more peaceful than following my own plan. When I tried to mix the philosophies of men and the word of God I often got nowhere.
It reminded me that I have to either follow Christ or popular culture and not be lukewarm. Only when I surrendered to God did He start working effectively in my life for His glory. He can only work effectively in our lives when we surrender ourselves to Him wholeheartedly.
The Holy Bible has become my compass around which everything else revolves because it is the Word of God.
When I first read Rich Dad, Poor Dad I was motivated by the new perspective about money I didn’t have prior. All I knew up to that point was that one was to work all their lives and retire on a pension. The idea that money was supposed to work for me instead of the other way around was fascinating to me. It sparked my curiosity and got me thinking.
As I learned from Robert Kiyosaki’s experiences I began to visualize my future to one day become financially free. From then on, my entrepreneurial drive was birthed and I began to seek money-making opportunities. I never looked back and had both good and not so good experiences along the way. The journey has been awesome and I continue to pursue that goal and enjoy the ride.
It’s one of those books that parents should share with their children while they are young. Today there are more opportunities than ever before to build something for yourself and not rely on an employer. I got to a point where I eventually stopped looking for a job to focus more on building my empire. I’m glad that I read this book in my late teens which has served me well.
Map4Life played a big part in helping me discover what God created me to do here on earth.
Something else I was never actively taught growing up was how to plan my life and set big goals. It was the same idea that I should study hard, get a good job, and live a good life. How to do all those things is something that lacked more so considering I didn’t know for sure what career to pursue. I fumbled my way through life to discover what I was created to do.
Map4Life played a big part in helping me discover what God created me to do here on earth. I love how it helped me explore my passions and identify opportunities to maximise them for God’s glory. I was brought up to believe that I should take up any job and learn how to do it as I go. With time this advice didn’t make sense and I got to a point of changing direction to align with my passions and strengths.
Work shouldn’t feel like work and when you find something that you love, you’ll never have to ‘work’ again. Although it has its challenges, life is meant to be enjoyed and your life purpose is a big part of that. If you haven’t already discovered your purpose, get a copy of Map4Life to help point you in the right direction.
Teach your children and the young people you know that they can do great things for the Kingdom of God even in their youth. It will set them up to do even greater exploits the older they grow.Are you familiar with any of these books? Comment below.
