DAVID:  The Lord had a plan and a purpose and call on his life. He was the youngest of all his several brothers. He started out as a shepherd. He was chosen by Almighty God to replace Saul as King over Israel. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)

JEREMIAH:  God had a plan for his life before he was even born. When he was told he would be a prophet, he thought he was too young to do what the Father was calling him to do. (Jeremiah 1:1-19)

SAMUEL:  From a very, very young age, Samuel spent a lot of time in the temple under the tutelage and training of Eli the priest. This place and time are where the prophet learned to hear, recognize and obey the voice of the Lord! (1 Samuel 3:1-21)

TIMOTHY:  He was also young, but appointed by God through Paul to pastor the church (the “ekklesia”, the body of Christ) at Ephesus. Paul sowed into his life with the Word and by example to prepare him for this. (1 and 2 Timothy)

MARY:  She was called by God Almighty at a young age to be the one through whom the Son of Man would be born (incarnate God, Emmanuel—God with us). She willingly submitted to and obeyed the Lord’s Word through the angel Gabriel, though she did not understand everything. She trusted and was an important vessel. (Luke 1:26-38)

ANNA:  She was married young, became a widow after only seven years of marriage, then served God with great devotion, commitment and love in the temple until she was eighty-four. (Luke 2:36-38)

DANIEL, HANANIAH, MISHAEL & AZARIAH:  They were young and yet steadfast in their faith, obedience, commitment, love and service to the Lord. They were polite, dutiful and respectful to their “captors,” but they were resolute and firm in their utmost submission and allegiance to their—and our—Creator, even, and especially, in the face of danger, threats, sure opposition and persecution. They did not waver. (Daniel 1:1-21; 3:1-30; 6:1-28)

ESTHER:  Hadassah, as was her Hebrew name, was taken from her uncle to be part of a harem to be possibly chosen as Queen to King Ahasuerus, since Queen Vashti refused the king’s request and publicly disobeyed her husband. Esther was, ultimately, chosen and became queen. She was given this position by the hand and providence of God to be used by Him —and with her uncle Mordecai’s help—to oust the evil of Haman and his desire to kill the Jews. Esther risked her position and life to come before the king and to expose Haman, to reveal her true identity and heritage (as a Jew), and to save the Israelites. She even saved her husband’s life through Mordecai’s shared knowledge, of men in his own court who were plotting to poison him. (Esther 2:8-11, 19-21; 4:4, 8-11, 13-17…)

Verses that specifically speak to or about young men, and young women:

TITUS 2:3-5, “Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so TRAIN THE YOUNG WOMEN to love their husbands and children, to BE SELF-CONTROLLED, PURE, WORKING AT HOME, KIND, and SUBMISSIVE TO THEIR OWN HUSBANDS, that the Word of God may not be reviled.”

PSALM 119:9, “How can a YOUNG MAN KEEP HIS WAY PURE? By GUARDING it according to Your Word.”

JOB 31:1, “I have made a covenant with my eyes NOT TO LOOK LUSTFULLY AT A WOMAN.”

TITUS 2:6-8, “Likewise, URGE THE YOUNGER MEN to BE SELF-CONTROLLED. Show yourself in all respects to BE A MODEL OF GOOD WORKS, and in your teaching SHOW INTEGRITY, DIGNITY, and SOUND SPEECH that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.”

(Others include 1 Timothy 4:12, 1 Peter 5:5, 1 Corinthians 6:18, 1 Peter 4:10…)