maturity isn’t…

i am 64 years old.  i would hope that i am mature but sometime i react in ways that aren’t mature.  for example when i’m at a stoplight and someone behind me honks.  i don’t handle that well. 

so what does it mean to be mature?  well a good place to start is what it isn’t and it isn’t age.  it has nothing to do with how long you have lived or how long you've been a CHRISTian. 

i’ve been a CHRISTian for 59 years.  there are still some areas in my CHRISTian life that i need to grow up in.  maturity has nothing to do with your age.  some kids have more of a handle on life than some adults.  some new CHRISTians know more about what it means to be a CHRISTian than some who have been CHRISTians it seems all of their life.  maturity is not age.

maturity is not appearance.  some people look so mature.  some people look so much more SPIRITual than the rest of us.  they look kind of dignified; they look like they’re holy.  but the fact is you can look real SPIRITual and not be SPIRITual at all.  it has nothing to do with appearance.

maturity has nothing to do with achievement, what you accomplish.  i sit and drink coffee with people who the world says are successful but i see them react to situations that annoy them and they look just like little kids.  they react in such an immature way.  you don’t have to be mature to make millions.

maturity has nothing to do with academics, how many degrees you have, how much education you have.  some people spend all of their time striving to educate their brain but they find that when they get that last degree, they still don’t know what life’s all about.  they still react to life, to others in an immature way.

no GOD says maturity is attitude.  attitude is what makes the difference.  it’s your character.  d.l. moody said,  “character is what you are in the dark.”  recognition is what people say about you, character is what GOD says about you.  GOD says it’s your attitude that determines whether you’re mature or not.  GOD wants you to grow up and have CHRIST-like attitudes.

just a thought from the front porch…