Don't get discouraged.

In High School, we face a lot of challenges. Whether it be the 5K on Saturday morning for Cross Country, the test Tuesday afternoon, or that constant sin tempting us, there's always a challenge. We face them all the time in High school, and we will definitely face them as adults in our careers, families, and communities later on in life. That's part of life.
What I want to encourage you with, is not to get discouraged when you slip up with that sin, or don't make the best grade on that test. What these challenges and trials do, it strength us. In Romans 5:3-5 and James Chapter 1 shows us, is why we face these challenges. God is doing this to punish us, or to just get a laugh out of us struggling to get through, but rather to make us stronger. When we make it through the challenges, we become stronger, we know how to deal with it more then next time it comes around. A lot of the time, challenges require the use of patience, and trust. Going through those challenges develops our patience and trust, which we can use in other areas of our life, and it definitely isn't limited to just patience and trust. It can be all sorts of things like self-confidence, motivation, dedication, and the like. Don't let that math test or that temptation beat you down or worry you, but rather let God use it to make you stronger and to grow close to Him.
But what happens when we lost the baseball game, or give into that temptation or peer pressure? Why can't I get this right? A lot of us ask We're only human, we can't get it right every time. If we did, then we wouldn't need God now would we. That's the beauty of it all. God is gonna be there to comfort us when we mess up with that temptation, or fail that quiz. He's always there.And not only that, those mistakes, help us to grow closer to God. When we mess up, yeah, it make take us a bit, but we come running back to God. We ask for His forgiveness, and He accepts us with open arms. One thing God has never ceased to do is to show me how I can use that mistake to grow closer to Him, to lean on Him more, and also, how to be better prepared for it next time. Don't let be a stumbling block for you in the future, but rather a lesson to make you stronger.

"I have made you and I will carry you;
   I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

    -Isaiah 46:4