Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? Job 12:12 (NIV).

One of the disturbing things about growing old is not being able to remember stuff. You know, like what’s the gross domestic product of China, the Greek alphabet, and where you put your keys. I find the affliction hits me badly when I’m going downstairs to get something from my office. Halfway down the stairs I realize I have no idea what I’m going to get. So I stop and think and wonder whether I need to go back upstairs to try and remember why I was going downstairs, or go downstairs in the hope that I’ll remember what I was thinking about when I was upstairs. Sometimes, caught halfway between downstairs and upstairs, I just stand there, only to discover that I’m not really sure whether I was going upstairs or downstairs.

Remembering stuff … Listening to some of the comments from people my age or older about the youth of today makes me wonder if my generation remember what they were like when they were young. The older some people get the more they seem to get down on the youth. Shame on them! The younger generation needs the older generation to be enthusiastic – not sarcastic! The youth need adults to be helpful – not doubtful!

Are you growing in understanding? The youth of today need you to reach out to them. Your wisdom and experience could make all the difference with someone starting out in marriage, at work, or in their walk with the Lord. It’s not difficult to reach out to the younger generation. You don’t have to listen to their music, just listen to them. You don’t have to dress like them, just accept them. And you don’t have to talk like them, just talk with them. The younger generation need you. They don’t need you to become like them, but they do need you to identify with them. They need enthusiastic spiritual mothers and fathers and supportive spiritual grandmothers and grandfathers. They need a generation they can look up to, older people who will model Christ to them, and mums and dads in the faith who will encourage them, guide them, and laugh with them.

So remember the days of your youth and be there for today’s youth with the love of Christ.