“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12
Ageism- the act of stereotyping and/or discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. Have you experienced this before? Has someone decided you were out of touch for a topic because they decided you were too young or too old for it? Have you been excluded from events and plans because of your years of life experience? Maybe someone made a slick remark that they didn’t think much of… “What do you know about this?” “This is before your time” “Live a little longer and you’ll know what I mean.” Or started over explaining what words mean or talking really slowly like you’re hard of hearing of the technology is too advanced for you. Either way, it sucks and can really add Stress to your Confidence.
I try my hardest not to be ageist and to always give the benefit of the doubt no matter how young or how old the people I’m dealing with are. The struggle comes in when dealing with ageism being directed at me. I’m a true youth at heart so kids and teens love when I can relate to the music, movies and culture they like. If they think I’m too old for it they are slow pressed to say something (which makes me laugh, because while I hope they are loving my ability to relate to them, part of me knows it’s a respect for their elders thing sometimes) but I still struggle with ageism being directed towards me by “the elders.” I actually read a conversation earlier today where a millennial told a baby boomer that her argument made her sound like a clown. For context, she had been spewing harsh and disrespectful words to everyone else on the thread that were completely off topic from the discussion. But the minute he typed and sent those words he was accused of being “disrespectful to his elders.” Not mean, not wrong, not even disrespectful for the sake of being disrespectful… he was accused of being disrespectful because the person who he was addressing is from a different generation. Sadly, this has been a cause for divide between the Baby Boomer, Gen X and Millennial generations for a long time, and I honestly don’t foresee it going anywhere because people are set in their ways. But I was taken aback by it and felt for my brother because his words were from that moment on ignored because of his age, and we see that happening more often for the younger than the older.
So to my younger folks: how do you handle that? And what does it do for your Confidence? When you know you’ve had the life experiences, the education, and the work ethic to validate your position in this world, how do you deal with being dismissed because the year on your birth certificate doesn’t match the wisdom you possess? Don’t worry, I’m here to affirm you.
Affirmation #1- Age is only a number. While being a certain age does give you insight into different things, it is not the end all be all of experience. It is possible to be traumatized in the same way by different events. So when you start to feel impacted by your trauma, erase the notion that you’re too young to know what something is like. Let your experience speak for itself and deal with the emotions that it is causing you. Talk to trusted friends, family members, leaders and mental health professionals to get you to a place of peace.
Affirmation #2- You are defined by your experiences, not your age. Like I stated above, age isn’t the end all be all of experience and the longer you live the more experiences you will have. Put more stock into improving your experiences than how many years you have in front of or behind you and live life to the fullest.
Affirmation #3- God validates you through purpose, not age. He instructed Paul to write to the youth Timothy and tell him Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12) Timothy was afraid he wouldn’t be taken seriously by the elders because of his younger age but God had a purpose for him and instructed him exactly how to proceed with them. Speak right, live right, love right, be pure in your faith. That’s all we can do. Walk the walk that we’ve been assigned and don’t worry about making them take you seriously. They will hear you when the time is right.
So be encouraged my young readers (and we’re all young as long as there’s someone older than us!) Walk in Confidence that age is only a number, you are defined by your experiences, and God validates you through purpose, not age. I’m rooting for you! Keep conquering!
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