Thy Youth

Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 

Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

1 Timothy 4:12-16 

1.       “Let no man despise thy youth”

Most teenagers are immature. All they do is sit around at home watching movies, playing videogames, and surfing the internet. They are lazy, disrespectful, and totally unprepared for life.

Don’t give people a reason to despise you when you are a teenager. Christian young people should use their teen years to grow, not to play around. People admire teenagers who work hard, open the door, say “yes ma’am”, “yes sir”, because it is a rarity.

Don’t act like the “normal” teenager that people dislike!

2.       “be thou an example”

Did you know people watch us? Non-Christians{even liberal Christians} watch us. The way we act could influence them in a good way or a bad way.

Younger children watch us. Do you want them to follow a bad example or a good one?

I know that I don’t want anyone to make my same mistakes. I try to set a good example, and if I make a mistake, I try to go back to those who were watching, and say I was wrong.

We need to be examples in many things

~ in word,

Are the words you use, words that you want others to use?

~ in conversation,

Are the things you talk about things you want others to talk about?

~in charity,

Are you kind? Do you treat people the way you want to be treated?

~in spirit,

Are you the same person inside and out? Do you do anything with your whole heart? Do you do it for the LORD or for man?

~ in faith,

Are you trusting only in the LORD? Are you an example of the kind of Christian God wants us to be?

~ in purity

Are you giving the appearance of evil?

3.       How do we know what kind of example to set? {“give attendance”}

~Read the Bible. {“to reading”}

~Exhort others. {“to exhortation”}

~Become firm in your beliefs. {“to doctrine”}

So, I leave you with this…

“Meditate upon the