Photocredit from Pinterest.com

The definition of a youth varies from region to region; generally, a youth is one who is considered a young adult. All through Scripture, God has dealt with many people in their youth. Examples of such youths include Joseph, David, Esther, Ruth, Samson, Joshua, Daniel and his three friends, John the Baptist, John the beloved, Timothy, among others. The Bible clearly states that, “The glory of young men is their strength; and the beauty of old men is the grey head” (Proverbs 20:29). It is for this reason that the battles of life rage over the youths. Both God and the devil are interested in using men and women in their youth, when they can be most useful.

Jesus – The Model Youth

While on earth, Jesus lived in the flesh for thirty-three and a half years. At the prime of His life, His mission was already accomplished. He started public ministry at thirty (Luke 3:23), and in three and a half years, He was fully done with His life’s assignment. As a youth, Jesus encountered the youthful temptations that are common to us today, but He never gave in. The writer of Hebrews made us to know that, “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). As a youth, Jesus lived with a sense of urgency in the fulfillment of His life’s mission. This is evident in His statement, “I must work the works of Him that sent me while it is day; the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4). For Christ, it was a ‘short’ but impactful life. His thirty-three and half years’ existence on earth has left an eternal impact on humanity.  This is the way God wants us to live. So, Christ is a perfect example of a youthful and useful life. At the age of twelve, He was already in the synagogue reasoning with the doctors and teachers of the law (Luke 2:42,46). He discovered the purpose of God for His life early and followed through until He was completely done fulfilling it. What a way to live! During His earthly ministry, He maximized His youthfulness by going from village to village, and from one city to another, preaching the word of God. He taught some of His notable lessons from the top of the mountain (Matthew 5:1; John 6:3). He prayed most of the time on the mountain top (Matthew 14:23; 17:1-2 Mark 6:46; John 6:15; 8:1). He had a very busy ministry schedule that even when He wanted to enter into a town unnoticed, people still found and thronged Him (Mark 7:24). He fasted and prayed in the wilderness for forty days, and was tempted by the adversary, the devil (Matthew 4:1-11). He did all these things as a youth. So, a careful look at Christ’s youthful life on earth, suggests that He was youthful and very useful to God and humanity. As a youth, you can draw strength, encouragement, and inspiration from how Christ lived and succeeded against all worldly distractions during His youthful life.

As a youth, you can draw strength, encouragement, and inspiration from how Christ lived and succeeded against all worldly distractions during His youthful life.

Maximizing Your Youthfulness

Being youthful is a great privilege because it is a phase of life that passes with age. The reality of aging is upon every man, therefore, the need to make good use of our youth. Below are some keys to maximizing your youth.

Remember Now Your Creator: The best time to reconcile with your Maker is now. You do not know what tomorrow holds because your life is not in your hands. Solomon concludes the book of Ecclesiastes by a firm counsel to the youths: “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgement. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thine youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 11:9; 12:1). This counsel to the youth suggests that you derive the greatest pleasure in serving God as a youth. This is the age when your strength, intellect and mind are still very active to stretch to any length for God. The best investment you can make as a youth is handing your life over to God, your Maker.  There is no mincing words about that. It is an investment that is profitable both in time and eternity. So, what are you doing with your life as a youth? Can God find you youthful and useful like David, Joseph, Esther, Daniel, Timothy or even Jesus? Ponder on this.

This counsel to the youth suggests that you derive the greatest pleasure in serving God as a youth. This is the age when your strength, intellect and mind are still very active to stretch to any length for God.

Be a Youth of the Word: The best time to invest in the study and practice of God’s word is in your youth. David revealed the secret of staying pure as a youth: “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). This implies that as a youth, you can maintain contact with the world without contamination only by strict adherence to the word of God. In writing to the youth, Brother John affirmed: “…I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong and the word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (1John 2:14b). John made it clear in his letter to the youth that true strength and victory over the enemy are realized when the word of God is resident in a life. In his letter to the young Timothy, the Apostle Paul charged him to “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2Timothy 2:15). He also charged Timothy to give attention to reading, exhortation and doctrine (1Timothy 4:12). In a world where most temptations are targeted at the youth, the word of God provides the key to evading these temptations. How conversant are you with God’s word? Do you spend more time on social media than you give to the word? Friend, you cannot give what you do not have. Feast on the word, and when the devil comes tempting, you’ll be able to overcome him with the word like Christ did (Matthew 4:1-11).      

John made it clear in his letter to the youth that true strength and victory over the enemy are realized when the word of God is resident in a life.

Be a Youth of Prayer: As a youth, one of the invaluable resources in your destiny tool box should be a vibrant prayer life. If the prophetess Anna, at the age of eighty-four practically lived her life on prayer and fasting, abiding day and night in the temple (Luke 2:36-37), then you’re inexcusable as a youth. Little wonder she was preserved up to that age to see the Redeemer of the world.  One of the prices for your rising in life is a vibrant prayer life. Great exploits in the kingdom are impossible without an effective prayer life. Daniel as a youth alongside his three young friends were men of prayer – “Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon” (Daniel 2:17-18). The young Daniel and his friends prayed, and the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar and its interpretation was revealed to them in the vision of the night. As a result of their prayerful intervention, all the wise men of Babylon were spared. Daniel maintained this lifestyle of prayer even to the latter part of his life (Daniel 6:10). How about you; as a youth who are your friends? Are they prayerful or playful and unserious persons? Queen Esther was another youth who through prayer overturned the evil decree of Haman against the Jews. Even though in the palace, she could still pray and fast with her people, the Jews (Esther 4:16). David was a young man also given to prayer. All through the Psalms, David made supplications and thanksgiving to God at various stages in his life: as a shepherd boy in the wilderness; when hunted by king Saul; when he fell into temptation with Bethsheba (Psalm 51); before proceeding to battle; after victories; when in distress, and so forth. Exhorting his spiritual son Timothy, Paul charged him to make prayer, intercession, supplication, and thanksgiving for all men (1Timothy 2:1). A vibrant prayer life is a necessity as a youth in order to succeed in life and ministry.  

As a youth, one of the invaluable resources in your destiny tool box should be a vibrant prayer life.

Be a Youth of Value: Knowing that the glory of the youth is their strength (Proverbs 20:29), how do you invest this strength? The youthful age is the age of personal investment to build your self-worth. David as a youth was so endowed that he got an appointment he never applied for with the king: “Then Saul said unto his servants, provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. Then answered one of the servants, and said, behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him” (1Samuel 16:17-18). All these attributes were found in a young man called David. Little wonder, David was accepted by all the Israelites (1Samuel 18:5), and his greatness and exploits outlived him. How about Daniel and his three friends in Babylon? After their training for the palace work, in all matters of wisdom and understanding, they were ten times better than their contemporaries (Daniel 1:20). They didn’t attain this feat by luck but by work. They were diligent and godly young men. Do not be a liability as a youth, you’d only live a wasted life. Be an asset of great worth by investing your time in studying, learning skills, building useful relationships, developing character, submitting to mentoring and discipleship, etc. This is the most valuable phase of your life; if you waste it, you may most likely never get a second chance to make it right. This is the phase of discovery of purpose. Discover God’s purpose for your life and pursue its accomplishment with all vigour. 

Do not be a liability as a youth, you’d only live a wasted life. Be an asset of great worth by investing your time in studying, learning skills, building useful relationships, developing character, submitting to mentoring and discipleship, etc

Be a Youth of Courage: In a world where evil is very confrontational, you need the guts to be able to say ‘NO’ when it matters. You need courage like Shadrach, Mashack and Abednego to say ‘NO’ to the king’s statue and threatening fiery furnace (Daniel 3:16-18). These youths never bowed to the king’s statue, and they were not burnt or hurt by the king’s fiery furnace, but God delivered them. Today, the king’s statue could be in form of the LGBTQ agenda, bribery, immoral living, compromise to get a job or admission into the university, examination malpractice, etc. In whatever form it comes, you need the courage to face it headlong and say ‘NO’ to Lucifer’s appealing offers. If young Esther had not summoned the courage to appear before the king at the detriment of her life, the Jews would have been annihilated. She refused to play the coward, and her life and those of her people were preserved. Joshua at the verge of conquering Canaan was charged again and again by God to be strong and courageous (Joshua 1:6,7,9). Titus once again reminds us that the work of God’s grace is to empower us to say ‘NO’ to worldly passions and ungodliness (Titus 2:11-12 NIV). Remember, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of love, power, and sound mind (2Timothy 1:7). Be courageous and stand for the Lord when your faith is threatened. Be courageous and don’t give in when you’re pressed to compromise. King Saul underrated David’s ability to fight Goliath because he was a youth: “And Saul said unto the David, thou art not able to fight with him; for thou art but a youth…” (1Samuel 17:33). In this regard, Paul’s counsel to young Timothy is very relevant for staying courageous and living a courageous life. He counseled, “Let no man despise your youth, but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1Timothy 4:12).  

Be courageous and stand for the Lord when your faith is threatened. Be courageous and don’t give in when you’re pressed to compromise.

Be a Youth for National Transformation: One common thread among the youths that God used in the Bible was that they affected their nations and territories for God. The Jews were preserved in Shushan through the young Queen Esther. Egypt and the entire world were preserved in the years of famine through the wisdom of a godly Prime Minister and Administrator called Joseph. The Philistine champion and giant Goliath was killed, and the Philistines defeated and subdued through the young David. Also, Israel maintained consistent victory and dominion over its enemies through the anointed king David. The Babylonians were asked to revere the God of the Hebrew young men after their deliverance from the king’s fiery furnace (Daniel 3:28-29). The entire kingdom of Persia was commanded to tremble and fear the God of Daniel by king Darius after Daniel’s triumphant return from the lion’s den (Daniel 6:25-27). The intervention of a young slave girl led to the healing of the Syrian Army General’s leprosy, which caused him to worship the God of Israel, thereby, impacting the nation for God (2 Samuel 5:1-17). How are you contributing your quota to national transformation and development? What are you doing with God’s endowment on your life? Like these young men and women in the Bible, can you prayerfully identify your place in your nation’s or region’s transformation? Like Mordecai told Esther, “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

Finally, remember that God has a special plan for you as a youth, and you can’t afford to waste away in laziness, complacency, and worldly passions. Seek God’s face to discover His purpose for your life and run with it because it is in doing this, that your youthfulness becomes useful both to God and humanity. Stay blessed!