The Inside has to be Cleaned First
When working with teen mothers, true change has to come from the inside.
Recently I spoke with a woman who just started a program for teen mothers. They began meeting as a group back in November of 2011 and in January of 2012 she and and the Mentors began helping their teen mothers identify their individual goals and begin working towards those goals. One of the goals she and her Mentors all agreed upon was that each teen mother would, at least 3 times a week, read the daily devotional they each received at last year's Christmas party.
Well, 4 weeks into the New Year and this program director was beginning to feel frustrated. When asked how they were doing on their devotional reading, the teen mothers were bold face lying to her! They weren't really reading the devotional at all!
"Whose goal was it for the teen mothers to read the daily devotional? Was it their own personal goal or was it your goal for them?" I asked. After a little more discussion, she soon realized that their goal was indeed her's and her Mentors' goal for their teen mothers and the people they were really frustrated with weren't the teen mothers at all. The program director and the Mentors were mad at themselves! She now understood that they had set a goal for the teen mothers instead of the goal being one the teen mothers had identified and set for themselves!
In Matthew 23:26, Jesus says, "First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too."
In order for a person to truly change, the desire to change MUST be their own. Even if know and believe that a change in her life would be beneficial for a teen mother, unless she herself believes it in her heart that change will never be permanent. Oh, she may change for a while to appease you, but because that goal was not her own, it will not last.