Proverbs 13:20
Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
This passage bears a twofold admonition. A positive and a negative. The first aspect I want to focus on is the positive clause “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise… ” I believe that as a young Christian this is one of the most important concepts that you can come to understand and put into practice. Walking with the wise.
It comes naturally that most of our friends and the people we spend a large part of our time with are those who are in the same age group and more often than not, they share a lot of common instrests with us. But, the scriptures in several places say things like “wisdom is with the aged” and “silver hair is a crown of wisdom” and “let the older teach the younger”. Does this mean that wisdom is only possesed by people older than us or that we can only learn from and be edified by our elders? Certainly not, but it does set forth a principle that there is an indespinsable role that older and more mature believers play in the life of the church. You need to be discipled, and you need the wisdom and experience of older, more mature, godly people.
When it comes to serious matters like marriage, there is no substitute for a man or woman who has been married for 20, 30, or 50 years and has spent those long years building that marriage on the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. There’s also no substitute for a man or woman who spent the early part of a marriage in sin and disfunction and through repentance and faith in Christ has rebuilt that marriage on the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. There’s the couple who’ve raised godly children and the couple who have dealt with the heartache of a wayward child. The one who remained chaste until marriage who can extol the benefits and the one who didn’t that can warn you about the consequences but also show how grace can make a way if you’ve already fallen there. The wisdom that lies with the aged is a knowledge tempered by experience. They can show you how doing it the right way works. They can also spot the mistakes you’re about to make before you make them because they’ve made them before and learned from them.
Another wonderful thing about older Christians is that they don’t care much about fitting in anymore. They’re not preoccupied with what’s trending. They will call out your nonsense and question your decisions no matter how uncool it may be to do so. Believe me young Christian, you need this. My advice to you is advice I wish I would have received and acted on the day I was converted. Find an older, wiser, more mature Christian and make them your friend. Ask questions, tell them your troubles, and most importantly, listen. Listen to their stories, listen to their regrets, listen to their advice. Listen and learn. Believe me young Christian, you need this.
