1 Corinthians 13:11

With Valentine’s Day coming up, the college group took a look at love in the Bible. So of course we read 1 Corinthians 13. This is the famous love chapter of the New Testament. It is read at weddings and such events, and the irony is that it is not talking about romantic love but love within the Christian community and the love God has for us. But within this chapter there was one verse that stuck out. It was verse 11.

1 Corinthians 13:11

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

I love this verse because I always saw in it a kind of get off your butts and grow up speech. I can see Paul saying this to the people, showing them and urging them to really start down that road of maturity.

Now the verse itself is in a passage about how the Christian’s understanding and expression is imperfect and how their understanding and expression of spiritual things will be perfect in heaven. We see in a mirror a reflection now, but in heaven we will see as if face-to-face. So verse 11 is really an analogy that helps drive this argument. But within this I truly think there is an element of growing and maturing.

The Christian life is one of progress and growing and maturing. When people express with longing how they wish to be a “better Christian”, what they are saying is that they want to mature. They want to mature in the Christian life by putting their faith into action and by living out what they believe. Isn’t that what we all want, to grow in our understanding and in our faith and have that grow us in every aspect of our lives? That is what we should want. For it is the maturing Christian that can say along with Augustine “Love God and do what you want.” For when we are growing toward God, our love for Him will direct our life and make what we want to do what he wants us to do.

Part of growing up is being able to look back and see how you were different. It is like opening a photo album your family keeps and you can look back at how different you looked and how you have matured and changed. Sometimes you run across pictures that make you cringe and wish you could get rid of. I have lots of picture like that. Pictures that are from my “awkward phase” that I am stilling trying to grow out of.

Our level of maturity and development affects all that we are. So when we are less mature our thinking and reasoning and talking will be less mature, or at the very least based on our less mature natures. We can look back upon how we used to think and be amazed about how we have progressed. We can look back and almost be embarrassed that we use to reason and think like that. But the important thing is that we can look back and can see how we have progressed and matured. Maybe this doesn’t mean being totally different, just reasoning deeper or thinking clearer.

As we mature and progress down this life we have our reasoning and our thinking should be maturing and progressing as well. Isn’t this what the Christian life is? Moving forward with what we believe, living it out, having our theology meets real life and growing and maturing from that experience. Isn’t it understanding and perceiving God more and more everyday? Isn’t it learning how to put our faith into action? The Christian should always be seeking to grow and mature. The Christian should always be seeking to progress closer toward God. And so when I read 1 Corinthians 13:11, I see Paul saying grow up.

It is time for us to grow up!