We want every young person to know how loved they are by Jesus so every week, teams head into schools across the country to encourage the students. We caught up with schools worker Lydia to hear how a some of these schools lessons have been going.
‘I recently delivered self-esteem lessons in schools in Milton Keynes and Northampton, looking at how the media affects our perception of beauty and how the influences we let speak into our lives can have a direct effect on our wellbeing.
‘In the lesson, students were shown photos from the media that had been edited to remove normal body shapes and imperfections. As the images were shown, I challenged the young people that how what they see each day impacts not only how they see their own bodies, but also shapes our view of what “perfection” is. From this, I was blown away with the deep discussions the students wanted to have.
‘As we chatted, I was able to share how my faith in Jesus means my self-esteem is rooted in how God sees me, not in what I have, how I look or what others think of me. And always wanting to point young people to Jesus, I encouraged the students to think more about Christianity, how Jesus sees them and to try prayer.
‘After the classes, one student told me, “If we were all happy with ourselves, beauty companies wouldn’t exist because we’d know we don’t need what they offer.” Another said, “I know now these images aren’t real so I shouldn’t judge myself against them because that’s not fair.” Isn’t that amazing!
‘It was great to deliver Christian content in schools and remind each of the young people, in a time where image is so important, that they are made in the image of God.’
Find out more about our work in schools at message.org.uk/creative-mission
