Honoring those who came before us by Shenayon Alagbe

There are many things that we, as young ones, do in our daily lives which we feel are justified because we have freedom of speech. We're not saying that freedom of speech is a bad thing, but we should also understand that even though we have the freedom of speech, Christian culture is also important. 

It's saddening that in our generation, younger folks talk to elderly ones as if they're their mates. This behavior is now rampant on social media. The reason I'm giving a voice to this issue is that some of the people we criticize and talk about are not saying they're perfect. Funny is that some of them are better than us in many ways. We tend to focus on the mistake of the elderly and call them fools, forgetting that we can also make mistakes and er are not perfect regardless of the knowledge we say we have.

Social media has made everyone feel like they can talk to anyone, regardless of age or position. We feel okay with lambasting others because we have freedom of speech. Specifically, I'm addressing this issue to some men of God. There are some men of God who I refer to as the "Noah nature individuals,"  who work tirelessly to preserve things that will benefit future generations. They have dedicated their lives to prayer and fasting, sacrificing their comfort so that we can enjoy ours.

No wonder our national anthem says, "The labor of our heroes past shall never be in vain." These heroes, including some men of God, they deserve our respect. Scripturally, we're meant to honor our elders, regardless of their mistakes. It's only a child who is a bastard that would expose their father's nakedness publicly. Every responsible child should cover their father's mistakes.

In 2025, let's not join the crowd in throwing stones at elderly people because of their little mistakes. Let's respect them, knowing that their prayers have benefited us in many ways. Even David, whom God called a man after His heart, made mistakes. Peter denied Jesus, and we all make mistakes because it's human to err. Nobody is perfect, but God has given us understanding.