Signs of immaturity – wanting our own way

The first sign of immaturity we looked at last night is one any parent of a toddler is very familiar with! – namely, wanting our own way. This facet of our characters is, sadly, not limited to temper tantrums known as the ‘terrible twos’ (we learn to hide this more effectively than the toddler!),  for original sin runs through our veins, which means we all ultimately want our own way more than we want anyone else’s way and certainly more than we want God’s way. Maturity is a life-long process of learning to put God’s will before our own, hence the need to pray daily ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’, as Jesus taught us. (Matt 6:10) Whilst we initially begin our Christian journey with immense thankfulness for all God has done, there generally comes a stage when we are demanding and selfish, wanting God to answer our prayers exactly as we deem fit. If we are to mature beyond this phase, we need to soak ourselves in the Biblical revelation of who God is and accepting that God is wiser than we are and that He knows best. He is not only our Saviour and Friend, He is our Lord and Master (1 Cor 6:19-20) and we are commanded to no longer live as we used to live, ‘gratifying the cravings of our fleshand following its desires and thoughts.’ (Eph 2:3) Instead, we are  ‘to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.’ (Eph 4:22-24) That way, we can learn to accept God’s ways as wiser than our ways (Is 55:8-9) and understand that even when He says ‘no’ to us, it is not out of malice or a desire to harm us, but arises from His loving omniscience which sees much farther than we can!