Have you ever heard the phrase, “Let no one despise your youth…” It comes from a verse where Paul is encouraging his friend in his calling as a leader (1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬).

I believe it was a crucial statement that the young man urgently needed to hear, and is a crucial one for us to remember in today’s times.

You see, for Timothy, his young age must’ve been somewhat of a leadership barrier—a “thorn in the flesh” if you will. In fact, for Paul to have said such a thing, it’s safe to assume that the young lad was either experiencing or would soon experience such discrimination.

Maybe this sort of pressure and expectations from others sounds familiar?

For this, I’d encourage us to insert ourselves into this passage. Asking a few questions might even help:

What is it in your own life that you find others, or even yourself, despising?

What is it that stands in the way of embracing and enjoying your own journey?

Take this passage a step further and replace the word “youth” with your own personal word. Insert one specific thing that invites despising in your life. If “youth” was the thing that invited a despising to Timothy, what is it for you? Perhaps you find yourself in the same scenario. Or, if you’re like me, maybe there are other things that hold you back from accepting who you are and where you are in the present moment.

Don’t shy back nor despise the wonderful talents and abilities the Father has placed in you. Yeah, walk in humility, but at the same time, accept who the Father has created you to be—in this present moment—and soar in your life with God! Don’t let anyone, including yourself, hinder the way you walk out your identity.

EMBRACING YOUR OWN JOURNEY

You see, I think Paul’s exhortation to his young disciple was less about a specific age, and more about embracing his own particular journey and stage of maturity. I believe his spiritual father and friend, Paul, was encouraging him to find peace in his own particular stage of life—not giving in to doubt because he wasn’t “far-enough-along” in his journey, perhaps like those around him (as if there’s some kind of measuring stick).

Friends, do you understand that YOUR journey, your particular stage of maturity, is so significant? It matters! And not only does it matter—it is the meeting place of Father, Son and Spirit—the unique space in which they will, time and again, meet you and speak your language, simply because They love walking with you.

It’s not a place where they “despise you” for not moving along like the others (God never compares you to other people), but the place in which they gladly come alongside in order to journey with you.

The sooner we can LET GO of others expectations of where we “could be” or “should be,” the sooner we will begin to see the Father right there in the midst of our journey. And the sooner we see him (meeting us, speaking our language, moving along with us at the pace he sees fit), that’s the moment we embrace and enjoy being who we are, where we are!

Enjoy the journey!