Passing the Baton

Passing the Baton


By Shirley Mitchell



“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

Titus 2:3-5



I have more to share with you about Lifeway’s National Women’s Leadership Forum in Ridgecrest. God just said so many things to me. How I wish you and I could sit down for lunch and discuss it. I am sincere about that for it is tracked who reads the CCM devotions and updates. I know who you are, pray for you, and lift you up to the Father.



Anyway, for the last session, they divided us up into two groups – an older woman and a younger woman group. I was quite shocked to learn that I belonged in the older woman group. After all, I don’t feel old. I certainly don’t consider myself the matriarch who has arrived and wisdom flows out of her. It was my official notification that I was indeed “older.” There was not a graduation ceremony, nor did I get to walk across the stage as I officially moved into the older women category.



If you have done Jesus Lives, then you know that I teach that it is our responsibility to teach the next generation. We can all mentor someone. I used to joke that I may just have to mentor the two year olds, but I would obey.



Anyway at the conference, the younger women were seated in the front center while the older women were given the outer sections in the front, the back section, and the balcony. Well, I’ve always thought it’s good to sit on the back row of the balcony every now and then and give others a chance to have a better seat. So my friend Karen and I headed to our back row balcony seats.



At the end of Beth Moore’s teaching on the seven reasons why our future is bright, she commissioned the younger women. She had them spread out in the aisles and the older women were to could lay hands on them. By laying hands on them, the older women were saying that we bless them. We repeated after Beth as we prayed for them. As I did this, I envisioned every young woman in my life. God impressed upon me that indeed I may not feel like an older woman, but it is time to be intentional and give more quality time to those that He has put in my path.



So do you feel like me? Do you feel like you still have so much to learn? Do what God showed me to do. Just share with others your experiences with God and what He has shown you in His Word. Teach what He has taught you. Younger women want to know that you care, that you will be authentic and risk involving your self in their lives. God commands us and they are worth it. So let’s pray about who we can share our lives and impact the next generation.





Pray with me: Almighty God, help us to be Titus 2 women. Help us to teach the younger women what is good so that they will know how to live and not malign the Word of God. Encourage us that we do know what to say and that they do want to hear from us. Help us to be intentional and make the most of every opportunity to pass the baton to the next generation. In the Name above all names, and the Name that makes the kingdom of darkness shudder and believers take courage and shout for joy, in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.