Don't Let Your Youth Be Despised
1 Timothy 4:12 says 'Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.'
How do you look at this verse? What does it mean to you? Often times, this verse is taken as 'people just look down on me because I'm young, and I should not allow that'.
But that's not what Paul is getting at here. When Paul begins 'Don't...', and adds 'but...', he is saying “Not this, BUT that”. The general idea is that it negates one condition for another. We are negating despisement of youth, that much is correct, but (there’s that word again) what are we negating it with? “Set an example”. We are to negate youth with a positive example.
Next, look at the context. What is Paul talking about leading up to and following this? Vs. 7 “train yourself to be godly”, Vs. 13 “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching”.
Pauls intent is not to tell others to not prejudge others by their youth, but to tell those that are young to be strong Christians. Work hard at your faith. Be diligent servants of Christ and his mission. Live a life that shows your dedication. Don’t be young and dumb. Paul’s point here is that YOU can keep people from despising your youth by acting like a true Christian, living the Word, and showing maturity by faith in Jesus!
- Josh McArdle, paraphrased
Our Young Adults ministry is not simply a few from Stagecoach Road Christian Fellowship, but an open group where all who seek the Lord are welcome to join!
We have a weekly study each Thursday night beginning at 7:30 p.m., and many activities beside this.
Come join us and find out what it's all about!