Shedding Light on the Lies
As I prepared for Elevate Youth Convention, I couldn’t help but think on my own high school years. I thought about past youth events that I had attended, who I felt I was, the baggage I carried, and the excitement and anticipation. I remember wanting more. More connection with friends, more experiences outside of normal routine, more time with the boy I had my eye on, and more of God.
I had my insecurities and struggles back then, and now in 2026, as I thought about preparing for my breakout session “What Shapes You?” I mulled over my teen years and prayed, “God, what do you want me to share with these teens?”
I’m older now; my struggles look different, and thankfully, the boy I have my eye on I get all to myself. But is what I need to hear now all that different?
I thought on my battles over those young years. I remember grappling with my insecurities, wishing desperately that I could be someone else. I wanted to be the fun one, the smart one, the pretty one, the funny one… I wanted things I saw in others but didn’t see in myself, and what I did see in myself I didn’t like very much.
It’s easy to let lies take a foothold in our minds; the enemy knows right where to strike, and in our own sin nature we have a bent to feed them. It can become a dark place in our minds, without us even realizing it.
One summer at a youth retreat, God broke in through the lies and the darkness I was living in, and spoke truth to me.
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my
mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
—Psalm 139:13-14 (ESV)
I read the whole of Psalm 139, and God’s Word spoke truth into the lies I was believing. It broke through the darkness with the light of truth outside of myself. I didn’t even realize the struggle of this sin until God’s Word spoke directly to it. In that moment of confession and repentance, I felt God’s love envelop me. The work of the cross was revealed to me once again. This wasn’t a salvation moment—I knew Jesus—rather, this was a part of how God continues His work through us as believers.
I still need this today. I still struggle with lies; I still struggle with insecurities. I need God’s Word to speak truth to me just as much today as I did then. I need to be reminded to rest in the work of Jesus at the Cross. I need to hear I am loved, I am created with intentionality, and I am a dear child to my Heavenly Father.
I love EYC; it pulls our youth out of routine. It gives our youth leaders a chance to invest in their kids in a special way, they get more intentional time to worship God, to hear His Word, and to do it with the bigger CLB church body.
God used that time in my life as a teen to work in my heart. I know he is still doing it today. I cannot wait to see how God works in the youth of the CLB! Praise God for his love over us yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Karen Stenberg is the Director of Women’s Ministries of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren.