Does a teenager’s social life actually affect his adult life?

Last updated on September 18, 2020

Question:

Does a teenager’s social life actually affect his adult life? During school, everybody has their labels, such as the guy who gets the girls, the anti-social guy, etc. Now, I know it’s good to be healthy, sane, and academically successful, but if getting a job in the future is like starting anew with your social life, what impact does teenage social life have on it?

Answer:

Your social life now is practice for the future. You start setting patterns for how you handle situations in childhood and adolescence that you continue on through the rest of your life. True, you have new people to interact with when you change environments, but how you tend to interact with people remains mostly the same unless you choose to make radical changes in your life.

Sometimes choices made in your teenage years will impact the rest of your life. Getting a girl pregnant in your teenage years will radically change your options in adulthood. You will have a child you are responsible for and your wages will be garnished until the child becomes an adult. Mistakes, such as getting drunk or posting nude pictures of yourself might come back to haunt you when you are trying to land an important job.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Galatians 6:7-8).