DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- JUST GROW UP!

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – JUST GROW UP!

"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ." (I Corinthians 3:1).

Even though the church at Corinth was a church blessed with great spiritual gifts, they were still living according to the natural mind – the carnal, fleshly mind. That was evidenced because, as Paul wrote in vs. 3, "where there are envy, strife, and division among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?" We saw the divisions in the church in chapter 1, and they are highlighted here in verse 4, where Paul wrote, "When one says, 'I am of Paul, ' and another, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?" Their fleshly attitudes were proof of their spiritual immaturity – that they were still babes in Christ and had not yet become mature.

When I think of people whom I consider to be mature, they are usually people person who demonstrate the fruit of the spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, dependability, gentleness, and self-control – that is, they are controlled by their spirit rather than by their flesh.

When I was a younger, I hated to hear someone tell me, "O John, grow up!" I still hate to hear that. It means that I am still acting like a baby. I like to think that I am really a mature Christians until something rubs me the wrong way and I respond in the natural, carnal, fleshly way, causing envy, strife, and division. When that happens, I am showing my immaturity.

May God help me to grow up to be spiritually mature instead of living in the flesh.

Love, Dad