Sermon For Kids

You Are Not Too Young

Opening

Here is something worth knowing before we read a single verse today. God does not put people on a waiting list. He does not say, "Come back when you are older, when you have figured more things out, when life gets easier." He says come now. Follow now. Trust me now.

That is exactly what the Bible shows us this morning.

Let us read our two passages together.

First, 1 Timothy 4:12 in the Christian Standard Bible: "Don't let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity."

Now Psalm 119:9-11: "How can a young person keep his way pure? By keeping your word. I have sought you with all my heart; don't let me wander from your commands. I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you."

And verses 12 through 16: "Lord, you are blessed; teach me your statutes. With my lips I proclaim all the judgments from your mouth. I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and think about your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word."

Those two passages belong together. One is a command. One is a prayer. Both are aimed directly at young people. Both take young people seriously.

What The Passages Are Saying

Paul wrote 1 Timothy to a young pastor named Timothy. Timothy was not a child, but he was young enough that some people in his church were tempted to dismiss him because of his age. Paul told him plainly: do not let that stop you. Instead, become an example. Let your life speak so clearly that your age becomes irrelevant.

Notice what Paul listed. Speech. Conduct. Love. Faith. Purity. He did not say, "Wait until you are grown to start caring about these things." He said start now. Live this way now.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the entire Bible, and the whole psalm is a love song to God's word. The section we read opens with a question that sounds like it could come from any young person who genuinely wants to do right: "How can a young person keep his way pure?" That is an honest question. Life is complicated. Choices are real. Pressures come from many directions.

The answer the psalm gives is not a complicated program. It is a relationship with God's word. Keep it. Seek God through it. Treasure it. Meditate on it. Delight in it. Do not forget it.

The Central Claim

Here is what both passages are telling us together: You belong to Christ right now, not someday. And because you belong to him right now, you can grow in wisdom right now, and you can become a faithful example right now.

Not a perfect example. A faithful one.

There is a difference. Perfect means you never stumble. Faithful means you keep coming back to God when you do. Faithful means you treasure his word even when it is hard. Faithful means you keep seeking him with all your heart.

What This Looks Like

So what does this actually look like for someone your age?

It looks like paying attention to how you speak to people. Not just the big moments, but the ordinary ones. The way you talk to a friend who is having a bad day. The way you respond when something feels unfair. Words matter, and Paul said speech is one of the places where a young person can set an example.

It looks like caring about what is true and right even when no adult is watching. Conduct is not just behavior in public. It is who you are when the choice is yours alone.

It looks like loving people the way Christ loves them, which means treating people as worth your attention, your kindness, and your honesty.

It looks like faith that keeps going even when questions come. Faith does not mean having no doubts. It means trusting God enough to bring your doubts to him instead of walking away from him.

And it looks like what the psalm describes: actually spending time with God's word. Not because someone is forcing you, but because you have discovered that it is worth more than anything else you could fill your mind with. The psalm says the writer rejoiced in God's word "as much as in all riches." That is a strong statement. It means God's word satisfied something deep.

The Gospel Foundation

None of this is possible on your own. Paul and the psalmist both knew that. The psalmist prayed, "Teach me your statutes." He asked God to do something in him that he could not do by himself.

Jesus Christ came into this world, lived the perfectly faithful life none of us can live, died to pay for every failure, and rose again so that we could be connected to him. When you trust Christ, his Spirit lives in you. That is what makes a faithful life possible. It is not trying harder. It is staying close to the One who is already in you.

A Closing Charge

You are not too young to belong to Christ. You are not too young to love his word. You are not too young to be an example of what a life shaped by grace looks like.

Start now. Seek him now. Treasure his word now.

The world needs to see what a young person who belongs to Jesus looks like. That could be you.

Sources Consulted

The Holy Bible, Christian Standard Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 2017.

Kidner, Derek. Psalms 73-150: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. InterVarsity Press, 1975.

Mounce, William D. Pastoral Epistles. Word Biblical Commentary, vol. 46. Thomas Nelson, 2000.

Towner, Philip H. The Letters to Timothy and Titus. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Eerdmans, 2006.

VanGemeren, Willem A. "Psalms." In The Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol. 5. Zondervan, 1991.