Cassidy Brinson is a senior in high school who is passionate about bridging the generation gap through discipleship and leading girls bible studies. Having been a pastor’s kid her whole life she values the local church and enjoys loving and serving the body of Christ.
Being a senior in high school, I can testify that the experience of mentoring in my life with older women has greatly influenced my life with Christ. I’ve been able to grow significantly in my walk with the Lord and have had the opportunity to pour out what I’ve learned into younger ladies. Discipleship is so important and needed in my generation, so here are three insights that younger women want you to know.
Set aside time to mentor and pour into young women. Make time for them.
Mentoring or discipling young women is an awesome way to make young women feel like they can be a part of your life and ministry. There is power in taking time out of your day to share the love and truth of Christ with the next generation. We need your wisdom and godly influence in our lives, and when this happens, generation gaps close and godly relationships form, uniting women’s ministry and uniting sisters in Christ. Hebrews 13:7 tells younger ladies to carefully watch and imitate the faith and teaching of mature, seasoned Christian women so that we can imitate your faith. This only happens when young women are intentional about listening and learning, and when you are intentional about teaching and pouring your wisdom into us.
Be real. Young women need to see authenticity so they can practice authenticity.
Young women will be authentic and real when they have an example of what it looks like and when they know others have the same struggle. When you are not afraid to humble yourself and let younger ladies know that you struggle, barriers fall down and you are letting this young lady know that she, too, can share and find freedom in vulnerability with other believers. The devil doesn’t want us to find freedom in our struggle, he wants us to keep it to ourselves so he can torment and distract us from the mission God has given us, but in James 5:16, we see that confessing sins and struggles with other believers is healing.
Give young women the opportunity to serve.
If you want to create a multi-generational women’s ministry, have multi-generational leadership. Giving young women the opportunity to serve lets them know that they can use their spiritual gifts for the glory of God regardless of age. The Scripture that comes to mind when I think about this concept is 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” Young people need to be reminded that they are never too young to serve the Lord. If you see leadership qualities or spiritual gifts in a young woman of faith, let her know! This could be the encouragement she needs to start using those gifts for the glory of the Father. Having different generations of women serving together and learning from each other is a great way to let younger women into women’s ministry, and pass the baton to the younger generation.
