Growing older is inevitable, growing up is a choice

Whether we are thinking of "growing up" in a natural family, or a spiritual family, whether it is in the life of a man or a woman, the bible teaches that a maturing process is necessary to transition from being a child to becoming a son (a mature adolescent) to being a father (a mature productive adult). I wish to focus upon the spiritual family that we know as the Church.
1. New Testament believers are called children (Gr. teknon) of God (John 1:12).
2. All New Testament believers can become sons (Gr. huios) of God (Galatians 3:26-28), but like natural children, each must pass through a maturing process en route to becoming mature sons.
3. The preceding process is preparation for a productive life so that we may be involved in bringing others into God's family. However, to fail to participate in the process of maturing, we will remain immature, and not become fruitful, even though chosen for that purpose (John 15:16).

God arranges various situations in our lives to reveal our immaturity, just as he did in the developing life of Jesus. God chooses to reveal our immaturity in bite sized increments. Furthermore, God chooses to do so at a time when we can have an opportunity to do something about the revealed immaturity. There is a principle given in 1 Corinthians 10:13, and the principle is this, that when we are faced with temptation, God will make a way of escape. Let's apply the principle: When we receive a revelation of our immaturity, the temptation will be to refuse the way of escape and continue in the comfort zone of our immaturity.

However, there is a better alternative than continuing in our immaturity! God holds that alternative! Since God chooses the time to reveal our immaturity, He also chooses the coming of a person into our lives to which we can submit, and thereby escape our immaturity. The revelation of our immaturity, and the presence of a person to whom we can submit is God's provision for us to take a further step of growth into maturity. This is exactly what transpired in the life of Jesus at 12 years of age (Luke 2:41-52). He accepted the revelation of his immaturity, and took the way of escape out of his immaturity by submitting to Mary and Joseph and returned to Nazareth with them. According to Luke 2:52, as a result of Jesus submission, he grew in wisdom and in favor with God and man.

Obviously, from the life of Jesus, it was not a sin to be immature. But if we refuse to submit to that which God has arranged for our development, we commit a sin of disobedience, and we fail to move on to the next level of maturity (2 Peter 1:3-11). Based on verse 3 of this scripture, maturity is equated with godliness. However, many of us are satisfied to receive life, and thus escape hell. We fail to grow into maturity, and while we escape hell, in our immaturity we raise a lot of frustration in the lives of those we connect to in the Body of Christ!