Mature Christians, however, do not allow the highs and lows of life to impact their walk with God. They are consistent. Oh, yes, they celebrate the mountaintop moments, but they do not rely on those moments to sustain their faith.
2) You find value in the “daily-ness” and trivial seasons of life.
Be patient in the mundane activities of life. God is still working. Whatever you do in secret, God will reveal in public. —Christine Caine
I call this the iPhone complex. It is an exhausting mentality where someone lives every day waiting for the next big thing. We love the iPhone … until the next year when the new one comes out that is basically the same phone. .
Similarly, so many people love their church or situation in life … until the church down the road is doing new awesome stuff or until their current situation loses its luster.
When nothing “awesome” is happening, many Christians leave or give up. They believe every day is supposed to be a day when God rocks the world. Mature Christians understand the value in mundane and trivial seasons.
3) You are at peace with situations beyond your control.
I argue this is one of the most underrated marks of spiritual maturity. Just turn on the TV. Do it now. Step away from reading this post (but come back, of course), turn on the news and watch.
Glad you are back. You probably watched sensationalized stories about ISIS, the downward spiral of our country and everything in between. Are we living in dark days? Absolutely. Are the acts carried out by ISIS and other terror organizations awful? Beyond awful, they are heinous.
But mature Christians don’t allow the latest buzz on the news to derail their lives. They don’t waste time worrying and freaking out over situations beyond their control.
They pray hard. They act on the situations they can control. But they don’t allow a second of their day to be wasted on conspiracy theories or sensationalized new stories.
God’s got this. He is sovereign over everything. That includes ISIS. That includes the apparent downfall of America. And as long as God’s got this, there is no reason to freak out.
4) You don’t allow disciplines to take a back seat.
It never fails. If I reflect on a season of my life where I did not feel close to God, there was one constant: spiritual disciplines were lacking or nonexistent.
Meditation. Bible study. Prayer. Solitude. Worship. Community. Confession. Fasting. These are non-negotiable for spiritual maturity and continued intimacy with God. People who struggle with consistency and intimacy in their walk with God are the ones that constantly place everything ahead of God. Spiritually mature Christians do not allow time or busyness to be excuses. They find time. They create space. They make whatever sacrifices necessary to live a spiritually disciplined life.
5) You maintain a childlike sense of wonder and awe.
Going back to my boys again. Noah and Micah get excited about everything. Today, Micah found a Cheerio under the couch, put it in his mouth, and screamed, “I did it, mommy.” Micah was ecstatic he found a Cheerio and ate it by himself.
As adults, we have a tendency to lose our childlike sense of wonder toward the world and our surroundings. Maybe this is why Jesus told his disciples we must become like little children to inherit the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:3). Children take risks. Children don’t put up walls based on skin color. Children see the beauty and joy in life. Children find joy in eating Cheerios underneath the couch.
Mature Christians have a childlike nature. They don’t easily become bored. They celebrate. They laugh. They don’t put up walls. They view life as a gift. They see opportunity where others see failure. They have a healthy naivety.
Becoming a child doesn’t mean you are immature. It means you refuse to accept the joyless, bored life that often associates adulthood.
