Grow'd Up

Read 1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT

“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.”

Read Ephesians 4:14-15 NASB

"As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ,"

In the infantile stages of my maturation as a believer and follower of our Messiah, Y’shua - Jesus Christ our Savior, I was very "BOUT IT" bout my salvation! (for all my urban lexicon impaired peoples - that just means that I was very zealous for God & focused on knowing Him, more...”seeking His face”) Ya understand, I was “sold out”, as they say. Seriously. I was “ON FIYA fo' de LAWD!”, Jack! :-) You see, coming from where I’d was dispositionally & morally in my life and growing up around a faith that I didn’t truly understand and subsequently really didn’t put much thought to believing in - it was greatly liberating to finally grasp a faith and a richness of relationship with God that was my own and that made sense regarding the world, humanity, my heart and my life. It all lined up, ya see. It wasn’t something that just “worked for me” or was “my truth”. Jesus had become THE Truth of which I yielded my emotions and my incorrect assumptions and thusly, day by day submitted myself to. And not only had there been an intellectual understanding, mind you....but also a relational and experiential understanding, as well.  I got it in my head, my soul and my heart. With humility and a gratefulness, I'm glad to say that by God's grace, I can still claim that frame of mind. While it’s true that a various points in my walk - between then and now - my commitment, faithfulness, love, obedience, understanding etc. to my Savior has fluctuated, at times, He has remained faithful & true and my heart has remained His. :-) (2 Timothy 2:13)

But I digress...seriously though...back then as a zealous babe in Christ, out of this sincere zeal I would incessantly pray and cry out to my God for Him to “use me”. “Use me, Lord...use me!!!" :-) I can still hear myself crying out and praying what was then and still is at the center of my heart. In my youthful zeal, I truly wanted God to just let me loose, right then, into the marketplace to be used extraordinarily in the world....equipped with nothing more than my youth & zeal.

Welp.....hindsight being 20/20....let me just declare publicly that I’m so glad that God is and always has been smarter than yours truly. :-) I mean, really!  I’m glad that the Master of the universe wasn’t swayed by my cries - as sincere as they may have been at the time.  His sovereignty and wisdom weren’t sidestepped by my zeal or good intentions.  Because, while zeal is admirable and although my intentions were mostly good - my level of maturity was not. My desires may have even been after His own heart and will....sorta...but the sanctification of my will - the submission of it - hadn't yet grown to where it was entirely His. If allowed to be and do for God all that I wanted, WHEN I wanted - without question, I would’ve absolutely fallen and made some horrendous decisions.....some of which would've provoked some grave consequences and would not have been a good look when it came to advancing the Kingdom of God and presenting Him in truth & love.

You see...making decisions in line with God's character & on His behalf comes with the territory of serving God and being used of Him. But brotha: childish decisions are dangerous. DAN--GER---OUS! Selfish decisions are dangerous.  Decisions fueled by zeal yet without wisdom & maturity can produce some terrible results. Word! Some Christians stay wet behind the ears for YEARS! They are perpetual "babes in Christ" yet their prayers boast of maturity that they have yet to come to. How the Lord uses a person is reflective of their level of maturity. It has to be. God cannot - rather, chooses not - to use a person beyond their level of maturity. I mean, Jesus always related to people at the level of maturity by way of the commitment they were ready to make. Now, I'm not talkin’ bout academic smarts, here. Not entirely. I'm talking about maturity, i.e. character, grace, wisdom, love, patience, etc. There's a huge difference. Our character has to be in proportion to or even surpass the gifts, talents and abilities deposited within us in order to have prolonged, FRUITFUL success. Jesus told His own disciples - those of whom He had currently been teaching & using, by the way - that there were many things that He (I) desired to tell them but they couldn't bear them at that moment. (John 16:12) He was limited by their level of maturity. Same with us. That's why it's imperative that we grow up. Seriously, though. Actively and purposefully GROW UP. While it is true that growth IS a process and something that doesn’t happen overnight AND by His love & grace, our Father is able to use us where we are - we are to actively participate in the “working out of our salvation”. (Philippians 2:12-13) In other words, we gotta work (grow up) BECAUSE OF AND AS A RESULT OF your salvation. God allows us to partner with Him in things appropriate to where we are in Him. However, His desire is that where, who and what we are becomes closer and closer to who and where He is. We do this by reading and applying His Word. We do this by remaining humble and teachable while developing patience and resting in God's timing. We do this by committing ourselves to the example of Jesus Christ - deliberately walking daily in His Truth and by His love & grace.

If we learn to mature in our character and grow in His grace...we won't have to grow in disgrace in terms of representing the Kingdom of God in our homes, families, communities, workplace or the world. Bottom line - spiritual maturity is being like Christ, Christian. So....GROW UP, young man...young woman. Be Grow'd Up! Amen. :-)



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"For if we are beside ourselves [mad, as some say], it is for God and concerns Him; if we are in our right mind, it is for your benefit." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:13 (Amplified Bible)