18 Oct 2026 · Akintunde Idowu
Our generation cannot allow what is common around us to become acceptable among us. A reflection on dignity, conviction and the responsibility to live as people chosen by God.
Dear Tribe,
I am deeply concerned by the growing acceptance of indecency, immorality and dishonour among our generation. Things that once troubled the conscience are now treated as normal. Restraint is mocked. Correction is resisted. Many no longer want to listen, especially when the truth challenges how they have chosen to live.
Scripture warned us that perilous times would come. It says that people would become lovers of themselves, driven by pleasure, pride and appearance rather than by God. We can see this around us. But as children of God, we cannot use the condition of the world as an excuse for carelessness. What is common around us must not become acceptable among us.
The Bible calls us “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people”. Those words are not merely a description. They are a responsibility. If we belong to God, our lives should bear His mark. The way we speak, dress, respond to correction, treat others and conduct ourselves when no one is watching should reflect who we are becoming.
To every young woman in this Tribe: there is nothing lasting to gain from exposing your body for attention. Your body is not a tool for validation, and your worth is not measured by how many people notice you. Attention can be immediate and still be empty. Applause can be loud and still leave you with nothing of substance.
Modesty is not an attempt to make you ashamed of your body. It is an understanding that your body has dignity. You do not need to reveal more of yourself to prove that you are beautiful, confident or free. True confidence is not the absence of boundaries. It is knowing your value well enough not to surrender it to every passing opinion.
And this call is not only for young women. Young men must also reject the habits that reduce women to bodies, celebrate indecency or treat purity as weakness. Godliness demands discipline from all of us. We cannot condemn what we quietly consume, encourage or excuse.
We need to do better, and we can.
This is our time to grow. It is our time to develop sound minds, disciplined lives and convictions strong enough to survive pressure. We should be becoming people of substance: people whose presence carries wisdom, whose words can be trusted and whose conduct points others towards what is good.
I would rather see every member of this Tribe become a voice of truth than another echo of whatever happens to be popular. I want us to echo the Word of God, integrity, sincerity and wisdom. We cannot afford to be blown about by every new idea, appetite or trend. If our convictions change whenever the culture changes, then they were never convictions at all.
We must be grounded in the Word of God.
Godliness may not be fashionable, but it remains necessary. The world does not become better when good people hide their convictions. Evil thrives when those who know the truth become silent, embarrassed or unwilling to live by it. Our generation needs young people who will demonstrate that purity is still possible, honour still matters and obedience to God is not outdated.
This does not mean that we should become self-righteous or harsh. Truth without love can wound people unnecessarily, but love without truth leaves them unchanged. We must hold both together. We should correct with humility, remembering that none of us is beyond temptation and all of us depend on the grace of God. Yet grace is not permission to remain careless. Grace teaches us to say no to ungodliness and to live with self-control.
There is something on your life. There is a person you are meant to become and an assignment you are meant to fulfil. You cannot afford to trade that future for a moment of attention, acceptance or pleasure. You cannot afford to live as though your choices have no consequences.
They do.
Every decision is shaping your character. Every habit is taking you somewhere. Every compromise makes the next one easier. In the same way, every act of obedience strengthens you. Every boundary you keep protects something. Every time you choose truth over pressure, you become more firmly rooted in the person God is calling you to be.
So, dear Tribe, let us examine ourselves honestly. Let us return to the Word. Let us listen when we are corrected, refuse what diminishes us and pursue lives marked by dignity, wisdom and holiness.
You are chosen for a reason. Live like it.
On 21 November 2026, the Tribe will gather at the Great Impact Baptist Church Main Auditorium in Bariga, Lagos, for the Teen Innovators Challenge 2026 Build Day & Grand Finale. The programme runs from 8.00 am to 3.00 pm. Admission is free, but online registration is required.