Loving Others: Devotions From Time Of GraceSample

The old folks just might know something

“Never trust anybody over 30.” That taunt came from a student radical in the 1960s, and it struck such a chord that it has been repeated a million times. Young adults have always viewed the generations above them as slow and stodgy, clueless and out of it. It is part of the arrogance of the young to overvalue their energy and creativity and to fail to learn from the hard-earned wisdom of those who have gone before them.

There are only two ways to learn: talk and pain. God invites all young people to utilize the former so they won’t have to suffer the latter. “Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Buy the truth and do not sell it” (Proverbs 23:22,23). Some things are in constant change: communication technology, pharmacological research, medical technology and devices.

Some things are timeless: money management, personal growth and awareness, employment attitude, good manners, and understanding human nature. It costs nothing to listen to parents and grandparents. The older generation needs to make sure there is a tone of respect when they speak--no one listens well when being treated like a child--but the young hurt only themselves when they squander the life knowledge that could have been theirs.

Millennials who listen are young and smart.