Childish Things

When I was a child, my speech, feelings, and thinking were like a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. – 1 Corinthians 13:11
 
I once asked my daughter why she no longer plays with a certain doll, and she responded, “that doll is for little girls.” Now, the problem isn’t that she stopped playing with the doll, because in life we outgrow and move on from things and people (at least we should). The problem is, she put that doll down and started playing with another toy – swapping one childish thing out for another.
 
As we grow, we often do the same thing. We stop playing with toys and start playing with people’s feelings. We stop being entertained by cartoons and start entertaining fearful and negative thoughts. We stop playing hide-and-seek (one of my favorite games as a child) and start hiding ourselves from God. The only way to do away with the childish behaviors in our lives is to change the way we think, speak, and act.
 
Think
The Bible frequently encourages us to guard and transform our thinking (Romans 12:2) because every good and bad thing begins with a thought. Every successful business began as a thought. Every loving relationship began as a thought. Every great book began as a thought. Every lie, theft, affair, and negative action began as a thought.
 
Both children and adults have thoughts, but childish thoughts are ideas without reason. A mature adult can reason and understand that every thought shouldn’t be spoken or acted on. We are to guard and transform our thoughts through prayer and devotion, by not allowing pervasive and destruction thoughts to take hold within us. And to do that, we are going to have to remind ourselves daily of who you are in the eyes of God. We are strong. We are loved. We are blessed. While things may not be perfect in our lives, it is important that we keep our minds on God and not the negativity around us.  
 
Speak
Our speech changes from one stage of life to the next. When we were infants and toddlers, we communicated in cries and tantrums. Though we may no longer cry and throw tantrums like a child does (well some of us), that doesn’t mean that we’ve learned how to properly communicate. Children are reckless with their words; they say things that they don’t mean or fully understand. Many of us adults do this as well. We speak negatively about ourselves and disparage our own appearance, circumstances, or we gossip and pass judgement on others. We put away childish speech by speaking positively and speaking life, prosperity, and favor over our lives. A child speaks without knowledge of consequences, as adults we are to speak knowing that our words bring gifts and curses (Proverbs 18:21) to our lives.
 
Act
Our actions are a culmination of our thoughts and words (good and bad). Putting away childish actions means first recognizing when we are acting like a child. Children pout and are shortsighted. Mature adults think before they speak and don’t act on their impulses. Mature adults are not dictated by their emotions. Mature adults admit when they are wrong and fix the harm they brought upon others. Mature adults seek spiritual and professional growth and lift others up, not tear them down. We won’t always get it right – no one is perfect, but mature adults learn to process, speak, and act in a way that shows thoughtfulness, empathy, and care.
 
To live in our full potential and receive all that God wants for us, we must grow up and put away childish things. We must commit to mature in our way of thinking, speaking, and acting by addressing those childish behaviors that we picked up as we grew.