When looking at the culture and at how quickly young people are leaving the Church, it can be easy to feel discouraged. How do we encourage young people and help them grow in the Lord? How do we be the people God is calling us to be in whatever role we have in a young person’s life?

First, continue to grow. We cannot give what we do not have. To lead young people into a deeper relationship with Christ, we must deepen our own relationship with Him. There’s always more of Him to know and love. Growing in faith through daily prayer, Scripture, reading, and reception of the sacraments enables us to be authentic witnesses to who Jesus is. This is what it means to be disciples.

Our primary responsibility in our families is to help our children grow by regularly getting them to the sacraments. As they get older, it’s okay to let our kids know we are works in progress and that we are continuing to grow in our own relationship with the Lord.

Second, we must be spiritual warriors fighting for the young people in our lives. War is underway, and the enemy isn’t the young person that we can’t get along with. The enemy is not flesh and blood; it’s powers and principalities. The young people in our lives need us standing by their sides, fighting for them, and speaking truth into their lives. We need to take up the armor of God daily, fight valiantly alongside them, and pray for them as warriors.

Finally, the most important thing is to love. The most fundamental desire of every person is to be seen, known, and deeply loved. Sometimes, young people look for that love in the wrong places or in ways that can be potentially harmful or incomplete, but the cry of their heart is to be loved. So, let’s love our children and the young people in our lives well.

Our instinct is to want to fix them—but what they really need is for us to listen. We need to put our phones down and engage with them, give them eye contact, and hear what they’re saying.

A second way of loving young people is by affirming them. It can be easier to see what’s wrong with others than to see what’s right with them—particularly our own children. We must ask the Lord to help us see what He sees in our children, to help us love what He loves in them. Then, we must affirm what God sees in them; that goodness will build them up and help them.

As a parent or adult in a child’s life, it is OK to say no and to hold a standard within the home—a lifelong standard of heroic virtue. Don’t be surprised when young people fall but use it as an opportunity to help them grow, seek God’s mercy, and re-encounter his love.

This is why young people love St. John Paul II. He held up a high standard of heroic love and virtue. It’s why people loved St. Mother Teresa. She loved everyone no matter where they were at. Love is the key.

Let’s help young people know they are loved and valued, and let’s not be discouraged by the times we live in. They are difficult, but this is not the first time that Christians have lived in difficult times. We will get through this together. Let’s be encouraged and continue to love and encourage the young people God has put in our lives.

This article originally appeared in Renewal Ministries’ September 2025 newsletter.