What does it mean to be younger than when you were older? It means, for one thing, that sometimes we grow old too soon. A little information is worse than all the information in that a little information can lead you to believe that you know more than you really know. Where all the information would overwhelm someone and make them humble, a little information makes you seem older than you really are.

Old too soon can make you think you have all the answers — that most things are black and white and you know which is which. You think you are smarter than you are. Paul puts it this way, “If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know” 1 Corinthians 8:2. Notice how he narrows this down to knowing anything. In other words, no one can assume they know anything, because anything is too complex to know it all. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

So being younger than you were is a humbling process. It means letting down your guard. It means embracing a more complex world and learning to live with what you don’t know. It means celebrating the in-between. It means admitting you don’t have all the answers and not taking yourself so seriously. And as a believer, it means appreciating God’s grace and learning how to turn it outward to others who need it just as much as you do.