Can both old and young people be there for each other? Definitely YES! We all need each other. The older men need to use their wisdom in advising the younger men and the younger men should use their strength and vitality to be more productive in our society. Don’t criticize each other. You need each other.

1. Young and Old Men Need Each Other
What a joy to look at my Kenyan driving licence which I took 36 years ago. I looked at my black
and white photo on my driving licence. I was a handsome younger man, with long black hair.
The hair is no longer long and neither is it black. It is now gray. There are certain things I could
do those years that I can’t do today. Aging is a fact of life and we need to appreciate ourselves at
all stages of life. When one is a young man, he has a lot of vitality and strength. It is normally the
best times to do as much as you can using your physical strength. As you grow older, you will
not have the physical strength but you will have lots of wisdom which you have acquired over
the many years. Both the young and the old need each other.
1. The Glory and Vitality of the Young Men
Proverbs 20:29; The glory of young men is their strength, And the splendor of old men is their
gray head. (NKJV)
Let’s think about these young men and their strength for a moment. “The glory of young men is
their strength”; it’s their physical power, their vitality, their ability to do things. But this also
describes the spirit and eagerness that young people bring to life. When a nation needs an army,
it will call the young, vigorous, and proud. When you need a job done that requires physical
strength you will need the young men. The glory of young men is their strength. When you
require a wise decision to be undertaken, you will require the wisdom of the older men. If you
want to have a good successful football team, you will require the young men. But note the
coach or the manager is always someone older. He has the experience, can guide very well but
does not have the strength and vitality required in a football match. The reason being we need
young people who are vigorous. God speaks about that here in Proverbs.
Daniel 1:3-4; Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of
the children of Israel and some of the king's descendants and some of the nobles, young men
in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge
and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king's palace, and whom they might
teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. (NKJV) “Young men without any physical
defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning”. Kings did not want to spend
time staring at wrinkles.
2. The Splendor of the Old
But what about old people and their wisdom? The verse says that gray hair is the splendor of the
old. Most cultures have respected gray hair. Even today, many cultures respect gray hair. To
them, gray hair is a sign of wisdom.
So here we have a balanced scale: youth’s beauty and vigor, and the wisdom of age.
Jeremiah 9:23-24; “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the strong man [young
and tough] boast in his strength. But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands
and he knows Me.”

2. And this, the Proverb says, is a beautiful thing. It gives a person dignity. The Bible’s writers
admire old age’s wisdom just as they admire youth’s vitality and beauty.
Each age has its particular honor, its particular set of joys and privileges.
3. God Pushes Us toward Each Other
Each age is better at something, right? Then a clear corollary is that the generations need each
other. The glory of young men is their strength. We need each other; that’s why God has made
people of different ages. God wants the generations to mix and to feed into each other.
God pushes us toward each other. As we mix, I think He’s telling the young: “Don’t be impatient
with older people. Don’t despise them because they can’t get around.” He’s saying, “Have
respect for older people.” And to the old, He says, “Don’t yearn for the good old days when you
were young.”
But to both groups, I think the Bible expresses it, “Don’t be preoccupied with your age.” Rather,
here’s what God says in Jeremiah 9:23-24: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not
the strong man [young and tough] boast in his strength. But let him who boasts boast about
this: that he understands and he knows Me.”
I love talking with older people that I come across. I encourage them to continue giving input to younger
men and women. I love it most when I sit amongst young people. I am able to mingle with them and
appreciate the challenges that they are facing in their lives in the current state of affairs. This is when it is
necessary to give them the advice that be useful to them in their future.
The other day I was speaking to a group of young people and we had a whole afternoon speaking on the
subject of Youth and Sex. I realized that this is a major issue that is affecting our young men and women.
Sex is not a new thing in life but the expressions of the same has been blown up so much and the young
people look at it as the real thing. A lot of useful energies and times are lost on this area. The young
people sometimes don’t understand the consequences of their actions and decisions but they regret later.
We should not condemn them. We need to be there to advise them accordingly.
Can both Old and young people be there for each other? Definitely YES! We all need each other. The
older men need to use their wisdom in advising the younger men and the younger men should use their
strength and vitality to be more productive in our society. Don’t criticize each other. You need each
other.