hotcoffee
New Member
1 Timothy 4:11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Ever notice how few leaders in the churches are young? I've seen children preach a great sermon or two over the years. I've heard people say those children called parrots. After all, the young haven't been around long enough to really know the truth. Now that I'm 64 it seems that 30 seems to be very young.
By the time this letter to Timothy was written, Timothy would have been about 30 years, old according to the commentaries. Here's the quote from the plain English commentary.
"The word young here means a young man of up to 30 or 40 years of age. Timothy must have been 30 years old or even a bit older. Many of the believers at Ephesus would have been much older than he was."
Timothy had to allow himself to be led by the Holy Spirit. Through this letter, Paul has repeatedly called on Timothy to pray. Timothy's prayer kept him in touch with the Holy Spirit. He only had to keep this up to be an affective leader.
It had to be hard on Timothy to be teaching so many people who were so much older than him in human years. When you think about it though, the people in his church that were born again, were not much older than Timothy in the new life of Christianity. They had as much to learn as Timothy. In most cases, since Timothy had actually walked with Paul, a disciple, Timothy had more knowledge.
