Life is funny. We start out as kids wishing we were older, and then when we are older, we wish we were younger. Could it be that, after all, we are better with age?
Since we have been talking about worth around here this week and frankly, in this season of my life, I have been thinking about aging and how we encounter discrimination as we age.
The irony is that the same people were only a few years ago wishing they could be us—cool and, well, older.
So, what is at the root of this age-shaming behavior? Biases shaped by youth-oriented standards. Read more about these biases on the Shame Rx this week.
Heaven forbid you even breathe a word about noticing wrinkles or your knees hurting. Your devices are listening, and you will never hear the end of solutions to help rid you of the shame you should feel and the need to eradicate yourself from the perception that you are…
*GASP*
Aging.
I’ll be honest (that phrase always makes me laugh, as if I would ever say, “I’ll be dishonest,” but I digress)—I feel my age. And I am fighting it.
To be clear, I am not fighting the reality that we all age, but the quality or lack of quality that is assumed to be part and parcel with age.
Scripture shows us that age does not have to defeat us. “Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone” (Deuteronomy 34:7).
The struggle to overcome shame from aging is a battle worth waging. We must make the most of our golden years, not cower because we have forgotten our worth. Aging is a privilege.
We are better with age when we recognize the blessing of being alive, with all its aches and pains.
We are better with age when we evaluate our worth according to God’s Word, not a number.
P.S.: Below is this week’s mindset hack to remind you of how God sees aging.
All for Jesus,
Denise