“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” 1Cor13:11

It’s not hard to look at our culture and see that many of us have not yet made the transition Paul speaks of here in his chapter on love. Having been a believer and follower of Christ for many years, I still have to ask myself, “Have I given up childish ways?”
The more we look into the gospel of Christ and His plan for each of us, the more it becomes clear that Jesus isn’t just interested in saving us for heaven. Upon receiving Him as our Savior, he begins a work of grace in each of us to bring us to maturity – to bring us from babyhood, through childhood, to maturity in Him. And while our physical bodies transition from infancy to adulthood relatively easily and with little effort, the journey of our souls is quite different. Maturity on the emotional, relational, and spiritual levels requires our will and a lot more. It doesn’t just happen. When adults act as children there is disharmony and chaos which will lead to death. (Romans 3:23)
I love to write about spiritual authenticity and maturity because it helps me process truth and grow. But I also see this as the primary issue facing believers in our world today. 

Immaturity in believers will do nothing to move our world out of darkness into the light of Christ! 

As we fail to model/value Christ-likeness (maturity) we can expect childish speech, childish thoughts, childish reasoning, and ways to continue to characterize our relationships, our churches, and our culture. With the vacuum of maturity, our families, friends, and neighbors are not compelled to grow up.
We shouldn’t be surprised to see childish ways among those who don’t know Him. Sadly, we see it being celebrated and applauded in our culture today perhaps more than ever. But as Christians, we must ask, “Am I pursuing maturity today?” “Am I worshiping/cooperating with God?” “Am I giving up childish ways?”
It’s no mistake that the apostle put these thoughts in the middle of his treatise on love. And love is what’s at stake in our families, our cities, and our world.  Join me in the pursuit of authentic (Christ-like) love. What's your next step to being a fully devoted worshiper of God?