Teenage is an exciting yet challenging time. Young people are growing up physically, but emotionally and mentally they can't quite keep up with the physical growth.

Teens receive their share of legitimate criticism; however they also receive unfair criticism. This is especially true when they are all painted by the same brush. Teenage is a time of rapid changes in mood and physique. Hormonal changes may complicate relations with family.

Here are four major myths about teenagers:

Myth #1—Teens are not quite normal. Actually they are normal for teens. We often forget that we had to go through the teen stage of development into mature human beings. So do they.

Myth #2—Teenage is just a phase. Rather, teenage is an important transition from a boy to a young man and from a girl to a young lady. How we understand and handle that transition is crucial to our teenagers' well-being.

Myth #3—All teens are alike. Teens go through this transition in different ways. Only a very small percentage has a rough transition. Don't paint all teenagers with the same brush.

Myth #4—There will be a uniform growth pattern. Actually, there is quite a difference in how teens will grow through this transition period of their lives. How the young person handles this time of his or her life depends a lot on how much understanding he or she is given. Also contributing to the stability or lack thereof is the quality of the family life he or she experiences.

So we may help our teens by understanding them and giving them space to grow through this challenging transition in their lives. Paul wrote, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things" (1 Corinthians 13:11).

Let's not be in so much of a hurry for them to grow up that we make the teen transition more complicated and difficult than it needs to be. Let's show our teenagers the unconditional love that God expects us to give (Luke 15:20). Let's remember what it was like to be a teenager ourselves (1 Corinthians 9:22).

May God help our teens and us as we mature both physically and spiritually and achieve loving family relationships.