Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity.
1 Timothy 4:12 NIV
https://1timothy.bible/1-timothy-4-12
My greatest teachers of the faith have been little children and those who are younger than me. Sometimes the older aren’t wiser. I know people who are so set in their ways they refuse to change; their hearts are like stone, like mine. Jesus said we could not enter the Kingdom of Heaven unless we become like children. Nicodemus was older and knew scripture, but Jesus told him he must be born again of the Holy Spirit to receive the Kingdom of God. Paul assured Timothy, who was not a Pharisee, that his gifts were from God. Because he was younger than the other faith teachers, not to allow his heart to become discouraged. Instead of looking for flaws in the younger, we should pray for them as Timothy’s mother and grandmother prayed for him. God sent Paul to mentor him in the Way. We can learn much if we encourage the younger generation instead of condemning them. Sometimes when I question my children’s and grandchildren’s choices, I remind myself and Satin whose they are; they were bought and paid for with the Blood of Jesus, and we need to stand in front of our children and grandchildren against the enemy through prayer in the spiritual realm. Paul was a Pharisee, and in a single instant, Jesus changed his heart. Like Paul encouraged Timothy, we who are older can help prime the gifts in the younger generation God placed in them through prayer, word, conduct, love, faith, and purity, to the glory of God.
Lord Jesus, please pour out Your Holy Spirit upon our children, and protect them from the deceptions of the world and the evil one. Help me to be willing to listen to the younger generation with a heart of acceptance, as You accepted me, a heart filled with sin, broken, bruised, and confused. Thank You, Lord, for not condemning me and turning me away because of my many sins. Surround our children and grandchildren with godly, wise men and women to mentor them in word and deed and lead them to Christ Jesus, Your Son, who paid the price of all sin in the world.
