Scripture to Read: 1 Timothy 5:1-2
God uses His Word every day of our lives to speak to us so that we will walk in obedience to Him. In 1 Timothy 5:1-2, God, through Paul, wrote to Timothy to give Timothy a very clear command on how to speak to men and women who were both older and younger than him. God did not give this command just to Timothy, but He gave this command to us as well. Our words, and the attitude in which we deliver those words, are incredibly important to our Heavenly Father. God never wants us harshly addressing an older man or woman. God is not telling us that we should not rebuke an older man or woman living in sin. God is saying that we should never deal with them with an unkind attitude. We are to speak to older men and women with the same respectful tone that we would use with our dad or mom. God tells us in several Scriptures how we are to honor our parents (Leviticus 19:3, Deuteronomy 27:16, Matthew 15:4, Matthew 19:19, Mark 7:10, Ephesians 6:2, Proverbs 6:20, Proverbs 23:22, Colossians 3:20). These Scripture verses relate to any parental authority in our lives. God also tells us that we are to treat younger men as our brothers and younger women as our sisters, in all purity. God wants us in right relationship with each other and our words play a huge role in keeping relationships pure, holy, and honoring to God (Ephesians 4:29, Ephesians 5:4, Colossians 4:6).
Challenge & Application
1. What did God teach you today about how we are to treat older and younger men and women?
2. How are you treating people in your life and what do you need to repent of in order to be in right relationship with everyone?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!