When leading your youth ministry it should be one of your goals to strengthen that relationship that they have with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By leading your students to a strong and meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ you are empowering your youth ministry students and equipping them with the tools that they need in today's world to be successful. So here are a few ways that you can strengthen the relationship that your students have with Jesus Christ.
The first thing you can do to help strengthen a relationship with Jesus Christ for your students is to be open to learning more about the their views and their own beliefs. When a student has a question about the Bible, you should be very open and willing to help them understand things that they may be having trouble with. You should also be open to honest and open to discussion. If a student read something in the Bible and has one interpretation and you have a differing interpretation, instead of telling a student at they are wrong, you should question each other on why you feel the way that you do. By being open with questions about the Bible that they might have you're strengthening the relationship you have with the student and the relationship they have with Jesus Christ because you are not being judgmental, instead you are acting as a friend and helping them understand the word of Jesus Christ.
Another way to strengthen your student's relationships with Jesus Christ is to encourage them to pray on a daily basis. One of the ways that you can encourage prayer is by having each student responsible for a personal journal. Each week have your students jot down their feelings and emotions that they have throughout the week. By having each student responsible for a personal journal, you are encouraging them to be introspective about themselves and their relationship with Jesus Christ. A lot of times we can be guilty of viewing others and what they do wrong, which is judgmental and not very productive. But by keeping a personal journal we take a look at our own actions in a quiet time where we can express our feelings to ourselves and also God. While this is a personal journal a homework assignment for each student should be to have one passage per week that they will share with the rest of your youth ministry. This is a way for you to make sure that everybody is participating in the personal journey home work.
Another way you can strengthen your student's relationship with Jesus Christ is to encourage outreach that your youth ministry can do as a unit together in your community. By coming together with a group of other people to do well, you are showing the power of God and what can be countless when followers of Jesus Christ come together for a greater good. They will be able to see their actions directly impact of those around them and they will be able to see God's work at hand.