If I had access to a time machine, I’d travel back to my 14-year-old self and punch him in the face. But let’s be clear, I’d still do that to my nearly 38-year-old self too. 

I guess what I am trying to say is that I was not a successful teenager. Despite having remarkable parents and only partially torturous older brothers, I managed to screw it up as often as I had the chance. 

And as I reflect on those errors all these years later, what I see is someone trying to figure out who they are. But, if I am honest, I’m still trying to figure out who I am. 

“Being yourself is tricky because young people are rarely the sole source of their identities. The four current answers for identity are I am what others expect, I am not (fill in the blank) enough, I am my image, and I am more than a label,” said Brad Griffin on the CBF Podcast. 

Brad is the Senior Director of Content for the Fuller Youth Institute and serves as a youth and family ministries pastor. Along with his writing partner Karen Powel, Brad has co-written several books, including “3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager.”

Check out our conversation with Brad about his new book and how to empower teenagers in a growing crisis of anxiety. 

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This podcast episode is brought to you by The Center for Congregational Health, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, and McAfee School of Theology Doctor of Ministry program. 

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Andy Hale is the creator and host of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Podcast. Hale is the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following eight years as the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton and five years as CBF’s church start specialist. Follow on Twitter @haleandy