Chancho, when you are a man you wear stretchy pants in your room, it's for fun.
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child.
But when I grew up, I put away childish things.
—1 Corinthians 13:11 NLT
The Quote
The Scripture
Paul, in the seminal chapter of love, begins his conclusion in verse 8 with the statement that love never fails. There is never a circumstance in which true love comes up short. Selfishness and impurity are sure to falter if even virtues that are good and just fail. Even the gifts of the Holy Spirit fail, but love never does because love is an expression of the divine nature.It is implied that we should strive to perfect this divine attribute in our own lives. That is why Paul continues the concluding argument in verses 11 and 12. He says that we need to grow in love and mature in our spiritual walk. Some things are acceptable for children in the faith, but are disgraceful for mature spiritual Christians to partake in. By that same token, there are certain things that no one should expect a spiritual infant to partake in which a man nearing their spiritual prime must do.
Life is expressed in seasons. We have beginning, middle and end seasons—all of which have their individual rites of passage and milestones. Despite this progression in maturity one directive remains: we are to continually put off the Old Man and put on the New Man—the New Man whose life has been reinvigorated by the Lord Jesus. This is God's expectation regardless of which stage you find yourself in your spiritual journey.
The Application
What are you learning from scripture that needs to be applied to your life today? Maybe you are struggling with something you know scripture condemns as wrong. Maybe you are struggling with a question of doctrine or grappling with the philosophical implications of scripture. Know that the process of learning questions those things which you think you know. Sometimes what you thought you knew turns out to be false. Sometimes what you thought you knew is confirmed.Just because your traditional spiritual life is different does not make it right or wrong. Sometimes, as with Ignacio, when we get older we wear stretchy pants in our room. Sometimes, when informed by the wisdom that comes from experience, we will undergo a dramatic change in our position on certain things.
The acceptance of that fact is called maturity.
