12 Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:12-16

1 Timothy 4:12 has been weighing heavy on my heart for a while now. I decided to do some studying in order to make sure I had the correct understanding on the verse before using it to write about. I knew I needed to write about how the verse makes me feel and the impact I believe it should have on my life. It was not until looking more into the verse that my attention was directed towards digging deeper into more than just verse 12. My eyes were opened to four verse, 1 Timothy 4:12 as well as 1 Timothy 4:13-16. Having some knowledge on the background of these four verses helped me to better see the clearer picture: Timothy was being looked down upon for being considered "too young to be in leadership".

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

Youthfulness is often associated with immaturity. Children, teens, and young adults tend to show behaviors and attitudes that relate back to this case of being immature. Yes, outgrowing this immaturity comes with age but it should not be an excuse for youth to act any way they please. As Paul told Timothy, youth are called to strive to set an example for the believers, as well as nonbelievers. Paul gives Timothy five areas to set examples in:

1. SPEECH: The way we speak about God, to others, about others, and for others has a major impact on the lives of others as well as our own life. We have to be cautious of the words we say as well as how we say them. Every person can have a different interpretation. We must be sincere in our words. I find the old saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt" to be one of the most untrue statements in the English language. As Proverbs 12:18 esv states, "There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing". Our words have the power to literally make or break a person. We must not let our youthfulness get in the way of spreading God's love through our words.

2. CONDUCT: "Actions speak louder than words" is a saying many people tend to use. Although we are called to be an example through our speech, we cannot simply rely on this one factor. We cannot just say, "I am a Christian. I love Jesus". We must put those words into our daily actions. We say we will pray for someone, let us actively pray. We say we wish we could help someone, let us actively help. We say we love God, let us not let our youthfulness get in the way of actively loving God.

3. LOVE: We are called to set an example through the way we love God, others, and ourselves. There are so many simple ways to show love. If someone is having a bad day, take a few minutes out of your day and send them a thoughtful text filled with encouraging words and scriptures. If you see a stranger (or even a friend) who is upset, offer a hug or simply smile. We often underestimate the power of a smile. It takes less than a minute to tell someone they are loved. We must not let our youthfulness get in the way of spreading God's love through the way we love.

4. FAITH: We must choose to walk by faith and not by sight. Having faith can be trying in times but we must have it in order to truly believe in God. Youthfulness in faith can often be a good thing, like saying "child like faith" because a child often has the largest faith in things they have not yet seen. However, we must not let our worldly youthfulness get in the way of having faith in God's love.

5. PURITY: We are called to set an example in purity. Although God shows us the example of sexual purity, what it is, and what it means to Him, we must also be pure in our thoughts (as well as our speech, conduct, love, and faith). This is often one of the hardest task to follow.

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:13-16

One of the biggest ideas I got from this passage was not allowing our age to be a reason someone looks down upon us. If we do not let our youthfulness get in the way of living out the five tasks of speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, then there is no reason youth should be looked down upon. Often, we are intimidated by adults. I, personally, have always struggled with the process of knowing I need to obey my elders but also knowing that adult opinions are not always what I have to abide by or believe. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter their age. In fact, in verse 13, God calls us to devote ourselves to publicly reading his scripture, exhortation, and teaching. It is our job as Christians to stand up in what we believe in, as long as we are not allowing youthful actions to stand in our way. Standing up for what we believe in may make it seem as though I am disobeying my elders but God knows the heart of everyone. He knows the intentions. If we are stating our opinions, thoughts, beliefs, and morals in a civil way as well as striving to fulfill the five tasks in verse 12, age should not be an issue. Let us not be afraid to stand up for what we know is right and never be afraid to do so just because of our age.