Mensa Otabil - Love Is Mature
- Watch
- Donate
Well, this week we will be looking at love. We will examine various aspects of love and how it is manifested, as well as how it should infuse our lives as Christians in all that we do. The challenge of First Corinthians chapter 13 is very high; it’s a difficult challenge because most of our actions, compared with what the scripture says, fall short. So many times, when we fall short, we say, «Well, I can’t do it,» and we leave it. But the important thing for us to do as Christians is to know God’s standard and expectation, and to work and trust Him that He will make us what He wants us to be. So don’t abandon the effort to truly manifest the love of God. Let it be our pursuit, let it be our standard, let it be our ideal.
We look at the last of our exposition on love from First Corinthians chapter 13, verse 11: «When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.» Love is the ultimate sign of Christian maturity. How do you know a Christian has matured or has grown in their Christian life? It’s love. So Paul is teaching that love is the sign of Christian maturity. He talks about when he was a child; children are naturally selfish, and it takes a lot of maturity to share. When children have something, they don’t easily want to give it away. It takes a lot of maturity to share.
Paul is saying, «When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.» There is a progression there. «I thought as a child» means it’s a mindset; it’s the way you think. Then he says, «I understood as a child.» In other words, I processed everything through my childishness. Finally, he says, «I spoke as a child.» So, if I’m going to stop being a child, it doesn’t start by stopping to speak like a child. You have to think differently, you have to understand differently, and then you speak differently because everything comes from our thought patterns and our mindset.
The mindset of a child is appropriate for children; when children behave like children, it’s cute. But when adults behave like children, it’s not cute; it’s not nice. Paul suggests that there may be a point in our Christian life when we behave like children spiritually — when we are selfish, petulant, throw tantrums, get upset, and get angry. However, he says that after we mature, we must put away these childish things. You can’t always be seeking revenge and vengeance, talking about jealousy and envy. We cannot have a spiritual life full of people who pray against their enemies, spending their time in all-night prayers against them, praying for the death of enemies, or praying for fire over their enemies. That is the prayer of children who want to get even.
But the prayer of the mature Christ is, «Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.» If we make our whole Christian life just a manifestation of our anger, frustration, and tantrums, we are children; we are babies in Christ. Babies in Christ cannot receive the mature gifts of God that He gives to adults in Christ. Paul says, «When I became a man,» meaning he went through a process. There was a time when he was a child, both naturally and figuratively in his spiritual life, but he became a man. That is where God wants each one of us to be. To be a man simply means to be an adult, to mature, to grow, and to be able to put away things that give us instant gratification and make us feel happy for just a moment. We are looking for the eternal and for the things that last forever, and that’s what true mature Christianity is all about.
Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, help me to grow spiritually. Make me more and more like Christ in my thoughts and actions. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Well, I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.