Acting Like a Perpetual Teenager?

Teens have an extraordinarily high rate of self-inflicted injuries resulting from risky behaviors.  Why?  Research discovered that the areas of the human brain that acts to control impulses is still continuing to develop well into the 20’s. In the teen years the brain’s capacity to learn is near peak but the ability to appreciate consequences is not yet fully operational.  That explains a lot, doesn’t it? When we hand him the keys to the car, we are confident in his ability to operate the automobile's controls, but our doubts about his good judgment are justified!  This quote makes me smile - "It is one thing to drive safely when you look in the rearview mirror and see a policeman. That is external feedback. It is another thing to drive safely when you're out on the road by yourself. That is maturity." (Integrity, Henry Cloud)

Spiritually, are you acting like a perpetual teenager?  
Are you still in the grip of your emotions and impulses long after you should have grown up and gained wisdom  to match your knowledge?

Is your life strewn with debris resulting from indulging emotions and letting appetites rage out of control?  
Are you unwilling to override your feelings so you can step up to the inconvenient or the difficult choices today that would produce a better outcome tomorrow?

God challenges us to maturity.  He says,  "...be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. ...we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, ... Live no longer as the ungodly do, for they are hopelessly confused. … they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They don’t care anymore about right and wrong, and they have given themselves over to immoral ways. Their lives are filled with all kinds of impurity and greed. But that isn’t what you were taught when you learned about Christ. Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes." (Ephesians 4:13-23, NLT)

Do you see the road to maturity revealed in that passage?

There is vision.
Look at Christ. Study His life and measure yourself by Him! We won't grow up if we are content to use lesser standards.
There is truth.

Know the truth, accept the truth, and relentlessly insist on living in the truth - even when it's not pleasant.
There is choice.

Understand that there is right and there is wrong! Then choose.

Note the strong action phrase, "throw off your old evil nature."
If we want to grow up, we cannot just be passive, waiting for someone to do the hard work for us. We must take the old ways off like old dirty clothes and toss them aside in the trash!

Then the same passage says this - "...put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:24, NIV) The Word is not telling us to 'put on' as in pretending to be someone we are not, as an actor 'puts on' a costume or makeup to change his appearance. Rather we are to take Christ and put the life He gives us in place in our life!

As we are still in the beginning of 2015, let’s embrace God’s call to maturity. Let’s stop using those old worn excuses.  Let’s refuse to act childishly, hoping that someone else will keep us from hurting ourselves.  I encourage you to 'grow up!'    Yes, even grown- ups make mistakes. Maturity alone cannot defeat the sinful nature in us, but we take giant strides when we face the truth, accept responsibility, and gather the resource we need to change from the inside out. Maturity proactively leads us to choose God's will and acceptable standards, without waiting to  be policed, having to be threatened with punishment, or monitored constantly.  The one who is mature owns his choices without shifting blame.

Maturity doesn't mean, "I can do it all myself." It means that we say “I take charge of me and seek whatever the help  I need – from others and from the Lord- to become the person that God planned for me to be.”  Tell yourself, "I am 'in charge' of Me!"  Prayerfully seek a new vision of who God wants you to be. "Put on" Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you to practice the disciplines of grace that create openings into your soul where you are changed from the inside out.  "So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ.
The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; ... let's get on with it." (Hebrews 6:1, 3 The Message)

There is a beautiful, whole, rich life prepared for those who are mature in the Lord.  Here’s the word from the Word - "And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to live in obedience to him. Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done." (Colossians 2:6-7, NLT)

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