Do Childish and Immature Behaviors Fracture Relationships?

We as children learn to make excuses for bad choices and behavior to avoid punishment even while realizing punishment is deserved and justified. Excuses are an attempt to escape the guilt and shame that reminds us personal values have been violated.

The Apostle Paul stepped outside of excuse-making by declaring, “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.” Paul was taking responsibility for past immature choices.

Childish and immature behaviors are responsible for fractured and broken relationships. 

Turning away from childish behaviors is difficult, but with God’s help, it is possible. Ask yourself, “What is the mature, godly thing to do now?” Ask God for insight, courage, and the resolve to heal your relationship. Examine yourself and if you are serious, God will respond.                    

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For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

~Ecclesiastes 12:14 New International Version

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How Difficult for You Are Reconciliations?

Looking back over the past year brings up memories of heartbreak and loss for so many who have been the victims of forces beyond their control. So permit God’s gift of grief and sadness to be instrumental in healing you. For most, however, it has been a year marked by the usual ups and downs of life.

Disappointments are difficult to avoid because it’s impossible to constantly please everyone or be pleased by them. By seeking and offering forgiveness we are obeying what Jesus instructed us to do. Extending forgiveness to others frees you to go forward with a clear conscience to make the best of each new day.

So be receptive to overtures of apologies from others, for these opportunities may pass and never return. Reconciliations please the Lord Jesus Christ. He stands ready to forgive and heal you along with restoring your soul, which give you peace from guilt and shame. This is God’s way, for which I am thankful.                            

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Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

~1 Corinthians 13:11 New International Version

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Who Are the Spoilers?

Whatever resides in our minds has the power to pull us away from God’s truth and goodness. There has always been a spoiler whose purpose is to distort the truth God desires to give us. A spoiler can be peer pressure or internal pressure that we permit to stand between us and God’s protection and provision.

You may believe you are not subject to temptation, but enticements can be subtle. When I was a child, I was subject to distortions of God’s truth, but by his grace and mercy he provided insight and guidance. 1 Corinthians 13 demonstrates the process. “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, but now I have put away childish things.”

Deception’s objective is to disguise temptation as acceptable and pleasing, but God's light reveals its true dark nature. The Holy Spirit within you desires to be your guide and protector. He will not allow you to be  deceived as long as you determine to walk in the light Jesus provides.

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Jesus said to the people, “I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.”

~John 8:12 The Living Bible

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A Bridge to Making Amends

The need to modify behavioral and thinking patterns is a necessity throughout each stage of life. St. Paul speaks for each of us: "When I was a child, I thought like a child, I talked like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became man, I put childish ways behind me." Childish immaturity is often responsible for creating pain and suffering as an adult.  

          Jacob was aware that if he were to be reconciled with his brother, he would have to make amends for suffering and pain he had caused Esau. Making amends would require enduring the consequences for these sinful acts of aggression committed against his brother. For Jacob this would mean committing his prideful attitude to God for redemption.

          Sacrificing pride to make amends is difficult but necessary. Jacob was willing to subject himself to humiliation and scorn so he could live life on a different level from his previous sixty years. One reward for making amends is that it pleases God and brings honor to him. 

Identity Formation: Who Am I? - Part 3

With children, pretend is a wonderful game. Pretend is a natural escape into fantasy that not only aids in the passing of time, but is necessary for the development of healthy emotional growth. St. Paul  points out the validity of this natural development: "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned as a child."

Unfortunately for some, pretend serves as a springboard for self-deception that endures beyond childhood. Self-deception can evolve into deceptive behavior designed to control and get what you want. Deceptive practices lead to flawed judgment that end with painful consequence. There are things worse than failure, and compromise with evil is one of them.

Listen to these wise words: "The choices you make dictate the life you lead." Making choices that change your life begins by replacing deception with God's truth. Deciding to forsake deception and face the truth isn't easy, but possible. God's word promises that when the truth is faced and accepted, you are then free.