WILL WE EVER GROW UP?

044 – APRIL 2007

BIG BRATS - WILL WE EVER GROW UP?

I am wondering if we “grown ups” are still children, but in adult bodies.
We seem to have a great difficulty putting away childish things. All of the sudden, we are men and women. All of the sudden, we have the freedom that comes with adulthood. All of the sudden, we have the responsibilities that come with marriage and parenthood. We have the same issues that we had as children … but with a lack of authority and accountability in our lives.*
We complain, we cry, we sulk, and we stomp our feet. We show selfishness, we display jealousies, we act moody, we are unthankful, and we throw tantrums.
We go unchecked, unpunished, and undisciplined - for things that children would never get away with. Poor kids! Think about it! We drink, smoke , spit, cuss, and chew. And it’s just fine … because we are “adults”. We may even lie, cheat, and steal … and think that it is all in secret. But it’s not!

* Proverbs 5:21 “For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and He examines all his paths.”

It appears that as we pass through adolescence and into adulthood, we take a heavy backpack of “stuff”. The pack seems almost magical as it instantly delivers the nonsense necessary for proper tantrums and demanding of our own way. The pack is heavy! We really don’t like it! It wears us down and we can sometimes feel very defeated.
The good news is that it is easier than you might think to discard this awful weight.

Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

The Bible says that we can ‘lay it aside’ (this backpack weight). Could it be that easy? Sure! With God, all things are possible. Make a good decision and flood it with patience, with faith, and with love.

As I conclude this “big brat” thought, I decide to accept a life challenge to drop the weight of this needless backpack and experience the real freedom that comes from truth.
John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Corinthians 13:4 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5) It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs …
11) When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.