Example

 1 Timothy 4:12 ESV 

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

They say forty is the new thirty, but I still don't think I can call myself a youth: I'm well into middle age! In ancient Israel, Levite men started active service for God aged thirty, as did the Lord Jesus himself. So I suspect Timothy was probably in his twenties at most.

Even if we're no longer youths, we can still obey the Apostle Paul's charge here. We're still to be exemplary. We're not just to be good when we're young, only to derail ourselves later in life.

Our speech doesn't have to be exclusively religious Bible quotes, but it does have to be seasoned with salt. It's not enough to just talk about the weather or our favourite sports team. Our conduct is to be holy and pure, like Billy Graham refusing to be alone with a woman who wasn't his wife.

 Love is to define us. Paul fleshes out what that looks like in 1 Corinthians 13. Faith is a gift of God, but we're still to exercise it. Purity is to permeate our relationships, to be totally above board.

'Heavenly Father, please help us to be Christlike in our conduct, whatever our age may be. Help us to stand up for ourselves against those who would despise us. In Jesus' name, amen'. 

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