{"id":1510,"date":"2024-07-27T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-26T16:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovesingapore.org.sg\/?p=1510"},"modified":"2024-07-29T11:13:35","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T03:13:35","slug":"2024-day-27-respect-the-youth-and-win-the-youth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovesingapore.org.sg\/en\/2024-day-27-respect-the-youth-and-win-the-youth\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 27: Respect the youth \u2013 and win the youth"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

1 Timothy 4:12<\/cite> Let no one despise our youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One thing I am passionate about is Youth. Young people are the treasure in God\u2019s Kingdom. And yet, they can also be the most challenging demographic to reach.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before we can disciple young people in the things of God, we must first be able to <\/span>win <\/b>young people over.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have worked with young people for nearly 30 years now and I have seen that teenagers respond to two things: <\/span>Love and respect.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

We all know how to love. Most parents love their children naturally. Church leaders, we definitely know how to love. So I want to focus on respect<\/span> today.<\/span><\/p>\n

We have always believed this: Love picks youths up by their weaknesses, but Respect releases them in their strengths.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than love, young people want respect.<\/b><\/p>\n

Respecting them means we are willing to call out the good qualities we see in them and then release them in their strengths. We don\u2019t look down on them or belittle their abilities. Instead, respecting youths means we affirm their strengths and help create a place in church for them to serve with their gifting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like the Bible says in 1 Timothy 4:12,<\/span> Let no one despise your youth. <\/span><\/i>Let\u2019s respect them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Empower the young people around you and you will be amazed by the fresh touch and new changes they can bring to your team.<\/span><\/p>\n

When change comes from the top, it is a Renewal.<\/b><\/p>\n

When change comes from bottom up, it is a Revolution.<\/b><\/p>\n

We older people must allow change and even actively encourage change.\u00a0We don\u2019t want change to come from the bottom up.\u00a0We don\u2019t want a chaotic revolution; we want a renewal!<\/span><\/p>\n

Give them a voice, give them a vote<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

When we engage the young, as much as we want to change them, we must allow them to change us, too.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Respecting them means listening to their views and allowing ourselves to be changed by their valid point of view.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let the young people around us inspire us with their godly examples.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t just invite them to the party, give them a seat at the table. Give them a voice, give them a vote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Respecting the youth also means that we Empower and not Overpower them.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you walk into a room with young people, empower them. Empower them by asking them questions. Get to know them better, draw their thoughts out of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than love, young people want respect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One question I have always asked young people when I meet them is: <\/span>What is your dream? What do you dream to do for God?\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

That helps me see whether I can help make their dreams come to pass.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s stop forcing our man-sized armour on young people. Instead, let them tell us about their five stones and their sling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Let them tell us about the lion and the bear they killed. Let them tell us about the songs they wrote while they turned a desert into a spring.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coax them to share with us how they see themselves coming out of the backyard to the frontline when the prophet is ready to anoint the next king.<\/span><\/p>\n

Believe me, the young people will let us dominate a room because they can be very polite.<\/span><\/p>\n

They will let us be the brightest ones in the room and control all the conversations.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we engage the young, as much as we want to change them, we must allow them to change us, too.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the thing is, If we overpower a room and don\u2019t empower the young people, we will be the ones with the most to lose.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We would have just lost out on a chance to listen to them, spot the next King David or the next leader or the next pastor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next time when we walk into a room with young people, instead of laying a red carpet for ourselves to walk on, lay a bridge instead and let the young people walk over to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ask questions, empower them to share. Empower and Don\u2019t Overpower.<\/span><\/p>\n

That is how we win young people for Jesus!<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us pray:<\/span><\/p>\n

Father, I just pray for every pastor, every leader, every adult who loves young people. Even as they open their hearts and church doors to young people, give them wisdom to know how to empower and respect the young.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And I pray for every youth in Singapore that even as they walk into our churches, they will rise up to be the leaders of today, not just tomorrow. Thank you, Jesus.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

In Jesus\u2019 name, Amen.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise our youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. One thing I am passionate about is Youth. Young people are the treasure in God\u2019s Kingdom. And yet, they can also be the most challenging demographic to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,150,151],"tags":[71,161,278,336,337,338,339,340,341,342,343,19,49],"taxonomies":[155],"class_list":["post-1510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-40-day-2024-family-devotions","category-40-day-2024-english","category-40-2024-","tag-david","tag-win-the-youth","tag-young-people","tag-voice","tag-empower","tag-overpower","tag-dream","tag-next-king","tag-next-leader","tag-next-pastor","tag-bridge","tag-love","tag-respect","taxonomies-winning-the-youth"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDay 27: Respect the youth \u2013 and win the youth — lovesingapore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lovesingapore.org.sg\/en\/2024-day-27-respect-the-youth-and-win-the-youth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Day 27: Respect the youth \u2013 and win the youth — lovesingapore\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"1 Timothy 4:12 Let no one despise our youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 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