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. — 1 Corinthians 13:11
If you talk to people who knew me when I was younger, they will tell you a wide range of stories. Some will describe a young boy who was full of energy. I may have been an outgoing, energetic person when I was younger, but that has not been the case my whole life. As I got older, my personality changed a bit.
Sure, there are times that I am still outgoing, but the point is that I no longer have the same personality that I did as a child. I’m not seeking the approval or attention of those around me as I was then. I’m not trying to prove who I am.
It is part of the process of moving into adulthood. As we learn more and have more life experience, there is a maturing process that takes place. Through this process, typically, we set aside childish things and move on to greater depths in life. But there are many times those childish things creep back into our lives.
Things like jealousy, envy, and our own desires often get in the way. When we let them take hold of our minds and hearts, it can lead us to do childish things. If I could summarize in my own words what Paul is writing here, it would be, “Stop being so childish!”
Do we let things in life push us back into childish actions? Times where we say things we know we shouldn’t, or do things that we know are not what God would have us to do. Rather than resorting to childish actions, our prayer should be that God would help us as we go through life to put aside childish things.
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