How often do you think about your future? Where will you be five, ten, 20 years in the future? Where will your current path lead you? Have you ever wished you could get a glimpse of your future? You can—by having conversations with older brethren.

Older brethren have been your age. You can learn a lot from them about where you are going and what your future is. We are often encouraged to speak with our elders, but not just because it’s a nice thing to do. There is a lot of tangible value in it for you—and for them.

Conversing with older members of God’s Church is a valuable opportunity to look into the future. The older brethren have been in your shoes—they were teenagers once. They’ve been through what you’re going through already. They’ve lived long enough to see where their actions led them, and they can share that information with you.

Job 12:12 says, “With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.” Another translation reads: “Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life.” They have had a lot of experiences they can share with you.

Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a founding father, shared some wisdom with his son in a letter dated October 30, 1769: “I deem it my duty to call your attention to the shortness of this life and the certainty of death and the judgment we must all undergo. The heavens proclaim the existence of God. An unperverted reason teaches that God must love virtue and hate vice, and reward the one and punish the other.” Carroll was trying to get his son to see into his own future. There will be consequences—good or bad—for what you do. Carroll may not have known God’s truth, but he had lived long enough to know that there is a God, and what you do matters. Don’t just live in the moment; think about where your actions are leading you.

One lesson we can learn from older people is that life is short. We don’t have a lot of time, so we want to make the most of it. That is a perspective older people can give you.

Older people can show you what your current choices are leading you toward—in health, for instance. It’s easy to not consider the repercussions of your actions when you are young. The choices you make will catch up with you at some point, for better or for worse.

Older members can also be a precious source of comfort and perspective in test and trial. They have had similar, if not the same, challenges. They know that even if you’re in a test or trial, you can still grow and overcome and change. They are able to look back on their own life and see how God has worked with them throughout it, and they can pass that perspective on to you.

In Genesis 48, Joseph brought his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to his father Jacob to be blessed. Verses 15-16 record Jacob’s words: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads.” Jacob was giving these boys a history lesson as he blessed them. Look how God took care of me, he said. Often older members will share experiences of how God worked with them throughout their lives.

Even knowing the value of conversing with older brethren, it can still be hard to apply it. We tend to naturally gravitate to our peer group. Sometimes we may not know how to speak to older brethren. But the Bible can teach us one way to talk to older individuals.

Luke 2 records the only explicit account of Jesus Christ as a young person. What was He doing? When His family went to Jerusalem for the feast when He was twelve, He stayed back in Jerusalem. When His parents discovered He was missing, they returned to find Him (verses 42-45). After a few days, verse 46 records that “they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.”

Christ was doing two things with these older people: 1) hearing them and 2) asking them questions. This is an example of how to talk to older members: Be quick to ask questions, and listen to what they say! It should be a two-way street, so you should share as well, but we are primarily there to listen and learn. That is how we get the most value from those interactions.

It can take time to establish this kind of relationship. You shouldn’t pepper the first elderly person you see with questions. But do talk to them. Build a rapport with them. Ask them about their life and their job. They are happy to tell you! And often, they will reveal a whole life you didn’t know they had. You might only know them as the little old lady at services, but she has lived decades of experiences that could astound you. They have a lot to share, and they want to share it with you.

There’s a whole generation that lived differently, and you want to glean as much as you can from that. And they gain from you as well—hearing about your energy and experiences and opportunities. Get a glimpse of your future by conversing with older brethren in God’s Church.