Area Leadership Message
Let No Man Despise Thy Youth
I remember an occasion when my children were young when I gave them an electronic adventure game, in which, to advance, they had to defeat opponents who were more powerful at each level of the game. I took advantage of the occasion to spend time with my children, and I played with them, but we reached a point where we faced a very powerful opponent who always defeated us all. After a while we concluded that this was the end of the game, and no one could beat him.
One day I was practicing to be able to compete with my children in the game. I was facing the fearsome opponent and I decided to fight like never before to see how much I could resist before he defeated me as always happened. To my surprise, after a tenacious fight, I defeated the opponent, and I discovered that there were several more levels to play. I excitedly called my children to see how I had defeated the opponent that we thought was invincible, but what surprised me the most was that after that event, each of my children, upon reaching the level where we faced that terrible opponent, defeated him too.
We learned that the reason we couldn’t beat our opponent was that we had convinced ourselves that we couldn’t do it. I wonder how many of us are stuck in our spiritual progress just because we think we can’t make it. I think of young Jeremiah when the Lord called him to be a prophet with these words: “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet to the nations,” (Jeremiah 1:5).
It is obvious that Jeremiah thought: I cannot do that! when he replied to the Lord, “Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child” (Jeremiah 1:6).
Jeremiah thought that because he was young, he was not qualified to be a prophet of God. However, the Lord knew the true potential of Jeremiah, that is why he told him: “Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
“Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee” (Jeremiah 1:7–8).
Today, as in ancient times, God calls young men and women to carry out the work for which they were chosen before they were born and accepted with joy. How great is the confidence of our Heavenly Father in His beloved children and how necessary it is that you, my dear young people, have that same confidence in yourselves, heed Paul’s advice to his young disciple Timothy “Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” (1 Timothy 4:12) Rather than doubting your ability, the Lord invites you to trust in Him and in what He can do through you. The Lord tells you just as he said to Joshua: “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:9).
Our Heavenly Father is teaching us that the current generation of young people is an extraordinary one that has been reserved for this dispensation. They have a divine potential and nature that enables them to be great examples before society and exceptional leaders who, with their service, help in the work of salvation and exaltation, and in the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil. I invite you to use the Children and Youth program which will help you strengthen your faith in Christ and is designed to help you receive revelation, which is essential for you to come to know God and Jesus Christ and progress along the covenant path. As our beloved prophet, Russell M. Nelson, taught when he said, “You can learn for yourself—right now at your age—how to receive personal revelation. And nothing will make a bigger difference in your life than that!”1
This follows the example of Nephi who, even as a very young man, diligently sought to know for himself the things that his father had received by revelation and taught his family, He said : “I, Nephi, was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently seek him . . .
“For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round” (1 Nephi 10:17, 19).
My dear young people, you are beloved sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, and He has shown that He trusts you just as He did Samuel, Daniel, David, Nephi, Mormon, Moroni, Joseph Smith, and many more young people who have been instrumental in His hands to guide and protect His people. I pray that Heavenly Father will bless you that you may have the courage to diligently seek divine revelation and act with faith in whatever responsibility you have received from the Lord, I testify that Jesus is the Christ, that He lives and loves you.