Anyone looking down on you?

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12

Good morning, friends. Here comes the second one which the Lord wanted me to share for quite a long time. I didn’t have an idea on how to share this till my friend shared it very beautifully in a Church’s Youth meeting last week. Please share this with everyone whom you know so they will be alerted by God.

Dinah, the daughter Leah had borne to Jacob, went out to visit the women of the land. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her. His heart was drawn to Dinah daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke tenderly to her. And Shechem said to his father Hamor, "Get me this girl as my wife." When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he kept quiet about it until they came home.

Then Shechem's father Hamor went out to talk with Jacob. Now Jacob's sons had come in from the fields as soon as they heard what had happened. They were filled with grief and fury, because Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob's daughter—a thing that should not be done. But Hamor said to them, "My son Shechem has his heart set on your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife. Intermarry with us; give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. You can settle among us; the land is open to you. Live in it, trade in it, and acquire property in it."  Then Shechem said to Dinah's father and brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and I will give you whatever you ask. Make the price for the bride and the gift I am to bring as great as you like, and I'll pay whatever you ask me. Only give me the girl as my wife."

Okay, the above passages are from Genesis 34. Please read the entire Genesis 34 if you have time to recollect what happened to Dinah and Shechem after this incident. Let me come to the point now. It might be harsh. But this is the actual thing that happens with most of the youth now-a-days. So please bear with me and pray that youth should be touched by God and they should be under God’s mighty hand to protect them from all the evil that surround them.

Dinah –She was the daughter of Jacob, whom God has chosen. She should be privileged to be a part of Jacob’s family. When Jacob settled down in the place Shechem, Dinah just came out to visit the women of Shechem. She started walking out of her tent. Dinah didn’t have any idea on that new land. In fact she didn’t roam around for a wicked cause. But she moved out of her own boundary for a normal visit which turned to be destruction to her virginity with or without her knowledge.

Shechem, the son of the ruler Hamor, saw Dinah, pleased with her, took her and raped her. He later said his father that he loved her and he wanted her to be his wife. The idea was good in his sight though he didn’t wait to be with her till the marriage. Moreover she was from a different family which normally didn’t have grooms and brides from another family that served a different God. He didn’t think of anything else, but ended up doing wrong against the God fearing family.

Later they were speaking of marriage, but what happened was, the brothers of Dinah said that they would not give their sister to an uncircumcised family. Poor Shechem agreed to their condition, and not only Him, but His entire men were circumcised. But 2 of Dinah’s brothers held grief and fury those men just because they felt Shechem has treated their sister like a prostitute. So they killed every men of Shechem’s family.

The point here is just because of a girl’s carelessness & a guy’s lust, the girl’s virginity was collapsed and the guy and his entire city were destroyed.

Paul advises the youth, “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” Yes, friends, never ever let anyone look down on you just because you’re young. In my fellowship the leader often says, “Based on your purity in your youth, the Lord will bless your future.” Yes, just imagine your appraisal process, you’ll write whatever you did extraordinary in your self comments and the appraiser would rate you based on that and finally you’ll be surprised or shocked when the rating is revealed to you. In Fireproof movie, the father of the hero says to his son, “God will never use your standards. He will have His own standards. When you say adultery is a sin, He considers even a filthy look as sin.”

Now let us come to the major practical issues.

Phone provides an easy way of reaching someone. As knife can be used both for cutting vegetables and also for killing others, mobile phones can also be used for good and bad. I know how a mobile phone can change the life of a girl or a guy. A simple forwarded message turning into a hi, how are you?, slept?, ate?, I’m not feeling sleepy, etc… is mostly the starting point of all the troubles which one brings to himself/herself. A one minute call for conveying important and necessary information can turn out into a very long conversation from the evening till the dawn. Doesn’t it consume the time that we used to spend with the Lord? Or of all the things you speak with the opposite gender in phone, how many words we speak usefully? I even know many people hanging around the phone all the time without the knowledge of their parents. They usually wrap themselves under the bed spread and will continue their conversation on phone giving a pose of a good sleep. Remember if you’re doing something which is right and useful, you’ll not hide yourself under anything. You’ll be very open even when your parents & others look at you. Whom are you cheating? You and your thought life are naked before God’s eyes.

The other case is you may speak with the clear conscience, but you never can control the mindset of others who’re speaking with you continuously. Don’t tempt others, I would say.

Just because of Dinah’s carelessness, she was ruined and an entire community was killed. Are we created to spoil and to be spoiled by one another? Aren’t we created by God for special purposes? Mobile phones are not the only way to destruction, but it is the major weapon that satan uses more often. Other communication channels, internet, anything and everything can be used for good and for bad. Please take a few minutes in your busy schedule and think if you or yours misuse any gift which God has given. If you find any, my friend, it is not too late. God wants you to get rid of that immediately. After all He created us to communicate with Him. One day we committed in our fellowship that we’ll not use mobile phones, our cars and bikes for unwanted purposes. If God has blessed you with many things, take a decision to use them for the glory of God. I again want to remind you of 1 Timothy 4:12.

The main reason for all these troubles is ‘Satan doesn’t allow the prayerful people to stay as they’re. He will distract them by introducing many temptations. Bible asks us to stand against satan, but to run against the temptation. Yes friend, run from the place/weapon which tempts you. Never let anyone look down on you!

May God bless!