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1 Peter 5:5-8

"Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

    This passage is chalk full of practical instruction that is urgently needed in not only this present society, but even in the Church.  I will draw from it, however, only two quick thoughts.  Firstly, the young people in our churches need to heed this call to subjection to authority or the next generation will be worse off than we.  This subjection is rooted in the humility that Peter so strongly commends to their attention.  Humility is a necessary prerequisite for proper subjection to authority.  We need to believe in all honesty that someone with more experience knows more than we do.  We need to be faithful in little if ever we are seek to be given the responsibility for much.

    Secondly, and equally important, is the need for the Church's youth to be sober-minded.  The young people in our churches have been coddled and have not been taught meat.  They are continually feasting on milk.  They are taught that adolescence is a Biblical concept, which it is not.  They are taught that it is okay to focus on nonsense, so long as they are not do any one of a list of so many certain forbidden things.  This generation needs to buck up and mature.  We must be watchful.  We make it to easy for the devil to draw us away when we allow our youthful lusts to run free.  We must feed our mind with heavy, Biblical concepts instead of the entertainment driven mindset the world seeks to impose upon us.  Youth groups need to watch fewer movies and play fewer video games and learn to consider and struggle through the Word of God. 

    Humility and maturity.  They are almost unheard of.  We need to strive to restore them.

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