Put Away Childish Things

“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13:11-13

There is a balance to be kept in the Christian life. On the one hand, we are to exemplify the wholehearted faith and trust of a little child; on the other hand, we are to put away childish ways.

Childish: self-absorbed, “me first,” fearful, testing limits - just some of the characteristics of a childish lifestyle. Paul said he did away with childish things - a teaching method used by Paul which indicates that the true disciple of the Lord Jesus ought to follow his example.

Are there childish patterns cut into your way of thinking? Do you tend to act or think childishly when confronted with certain situations in life? Can you say that you are fully mature in all you do? What events or patterns, which took root in your life as a child, still have their hold on you, keeping you emotionally in a childish state? Are there fears or memories whose grip you’ve never broken?

Putting away childish things may entail more than a maturing of your lifestyle. It may include a painful healing of the past, a release from childhood fears or terrors. To become the expression of God’s love to the world around you may require the Father hand of God wiping the tears from your eyes.

Growing up in Christ requires a giving over of all that you are and have.