I remember when growing up, the carefree days of youth. I didn’t have many responsibilities. Except, maybe, taking out the garbage or mowing the lawn. Which was a big job, by the way. We had about a 2-acre yard to mow. Anyway, there wasn’t too much to stress me out. Especially in the summer, when school was out, you kind of had free reign of life.
When we get older and reach adulthood, however, the story changes. Now we have real responsibilities. Once we are old enough and we leave the house, we are on our own. We live and die by our own decisions. I guess I always expected, when looking at adults when I was a kid, that when I finally became an adult that I would feel like an adult. It seems, though, that even now, at my age of 39 years, I have yet to attain that sense that, “Yup, I’m now an adult.” Maybe it was my flawed perspective as a kid. I think looking at adults then, I just had this sense that there was this overnight change that took place. Similar to a caterpillar in its cocoon and then the next day it’s transformed into a butterfly. I guess the process is more gradual with us. We grow older and mature by degrees. We, maybe, become adults before we realize we’re adults. And even when we do, it’s not like we thought it would be.
So, which is better, being an adult or being a kid? Well, while our childhood is pretty carefree and devoid of responsibilities, we generally don’t have a lot of impact on society, or other lives, or even our own lives. It’s more like a training ground for life later on. And there may be days where life overwhelms to the point that we think, “I just would like to go back to when I was ten years old for a day.” We know that’s not possible and also that it’s not what we really want. It’s just what we would like for today to avoid a painful experience. We don’t want to face the boss at work or pay for that $1000 car repair. Because the reality is that we have the greatest opportunity and the greatest impact in the world and other people’s lives in this time, when we’re adults. While playing in the sandbox was fun, and playing tag with friends was fun, and shooting bottle rockets at cars driving by was fun…wait, don’t read that last one Mom and Dad. Anyway, while these were fun things, we were never going to make our mark on the world building sand castles. We eventually had to grow up and learn from our childhood experiences.
So, is adulthood overrated? No, I don’t think so. It’s just different. In reality, it may be underrated. We have so much opportunity to impact other lives once we’ve gone through the process of learning and realizing how life works. We have the opportunity to have a career that is beneficial to others. No matter what that career is, it’s generally a benefit that you’re there doing it. We also have the opportunity to impact lives on an individual basis. You may end up being a mentor to someone. You could give a younger person a head start in life by giving them the benefit of your knowledge and experience. Finally, you’re also more beneficial to yourself when you’re an adult. Yeah, that’s not selfish, as long as it’s in the proper perspective. But you can also benefit yourself from your own knowledge or experience.
So, childhood was important. But we can’t afford to stay there. We have too much potential and opportunity to stay there. So, knowing this, maybe we can appreciate being an adult a little more now.
I have a verse in mind that applies to this topic. Its’ 1 Corinthians 13:11: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” See, we not only need to grow up naturally, we need to grow spiritually as well. There is adulthood in the natural sense but there is also adulthood in the spiritual sense. So, like we can remain naturally immature, we can remain spiritually immature. And the way we know we’re becoming spiritually mature is when we’re taking Biblical principles and applying them to our everyday lives. James 1:22 says, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” So, this verse makes it plain that we are deceiving ourselves if we just hear the word but don’t end up living it in our everyday lives. Putting these things into practice actually helps us grow and mature.
Here’s another: Colossians 2:6-7, “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.” So, since we have received the Lord Jesus Christ, we are supposed to walk in him as well. And we not only are doing the word, but we are established in what we have been taught and rooted and built up in him. So, you don’t waver. You are steadfast. That’s the mark of a mature Christian.
This next verse, I like. It’s Galatians 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Paul is telling the Galatians here that we are to be led by the Holy Spirit so that we don’t do the things our flesh wants. Being led by the Spirit of God is a key component of the Christian life. This not only applies to staying away from sin, it applies to us doing those things God directs us to do by his Spirit. See, God has not only given us directions in his word and our example through Jesus, but he has given us the Holy Spirit to help us to put these things into practice. That’s comforting, right? His word actually calls him ‘another comforter’. In John 14:16 it says, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;”
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So, God has given us everything we need to be mature, adult Christians. We just need to put them into practice. When we do that, God will also guide and direct us through his Holy Spirit and empower us to put those things into action.
1 Corinthians 13:11 “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
Colossians 2:6-7 “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, [so] walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”
Galatians 5:16, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
John 14:16 “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;”