1 Timothy 4:12 Let no man despise your youth; but be you an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith… Let no man despise thy youth. Apart from the direct reference of these words to the Christian apostolate, they are appropriate to us all in the season of youth. Spring-time is so different from autumn! Nature then is full of promise. As in spring the buds are bursting, and the birds building, and Nature's flower-show preparing, and her orchestra tuning, - still we pause to think what may come. Locusts may eat up all green things; the hot sirocco winds may wither the verdure, and the fruit of the vine may fail. Still there is a blessed promise in early days. No sane man will be found to despise youth in itself. As well despise the acorn because it is not an oak, or the orange blossom because it has not fruited. The spirit of the text is this - Do not act so as to lead men to despise you. I. MEN DESPISE MERE WORD-HEROISM. Be an example in word; in conversation, which means citizenship; in charity, which means every aspect of love to God and man; in spirit, which means the atmosphere that surrounds your life; in faith, which means vital obedience to the doctrines of the gospel; and in purity, the absence of which was the curse of Asia Minor and the cities of the East. Nothing gives greater power than conduct. "Character," says Ossili, "is higher than intellect." II. MEN DESPISE THE TRIFLER AND THE IDLER. If the word and the conversation be frivolous; as death and life are in the power of the tongue; then the man who is the rattle-brain of society is not likely to be the ornament of the Church or the admiration of the world. Men will, and ought, to despise such. There may be a dignified youth as well as a dignified age. It is not necessary to have a formal and unnatural decorum, but it is necessary for those who speak on the high matters of religion to show that they live in that world of solemn realities of which they speak. - W.M.S. Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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