“Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren.“
— 1 Timothy 5:1 KJV
Reflection on Today's Verse
Paul’s words aren’t rules about politeness; they’re a gut-check about how we treat people who don’t fit into our age bracket or comfort zone. “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren.” Think about that. How quick are we to unload frustration on someone older because they don’t “get it”? Or dismiss someone younger because they haven’t “earned it” yet? But Paul flips the whole thing—don’t scold, don’t belittle. Appeal, appeal with the kind of weight you’d use if it was your own dad sitting across from you. And the young? Not rivals, not annoyances. Brothers. Equals. That’s grace in shoe leather—seeing people not as irritations but as family.
I’ll be honest, it stings a little. Because my reflex isn’t to entreat, it’s to correct. My knee-jerk isn’t to call someone “father,” it’s to think, “You’re wrong, let me set you straight.” But that’s me leaning on my flesh instead of walking in the Spirit. Grace doesn’t puff up when it knows more, or cut down when it thinks it has the right. Grace remembers Christ Himself dealt gently with us—patiently, mercifully, refusing to humiliate us though He had every right. If He stooped like that for me, how can I not stoop for others? Isn’t that the gospel lived out—truth wrapped in love, firmness softened by family language?
Personal Prayer
Lord, teach me to see faces before flaws. When I’m quick to correct, slow me down and remind me of Your gentleness. Let my words carry the respect of a child to a father, the warmth of a brother to a brother.
Put Your grace in my tongue so that truth doesn’t cut where it should heal. And when pride wants to take over, break it down and replace it with love that looks like You. Amen.
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