If Wisdom is the ability to discern  based on experience, knowledge and judgement then Maturity is when discernment turns into action and a man responds appropriately.

Our maturation process begins early in our lives, some of us move through this process sooner than others… arguably most of us never fully mature.  Starting as a young boy we all began to mature by trying to fit in socially.  We identified male role models  such as a father, grand parent or maybe for you it was a super hero.  These role models helped give us a compass to guide us in order to achieve the desired level of social behavior.

Emotional maturity is measured by our ability to cope and respond to adversity.   We are all somewhere on the continuum of emotional maturity.  At one end we have the man with less coping ability and he becomes physical or verbally aggressive to cope when times get tough and challenging.  On the other end of the spectrum of emotional maturity we have the man that is willing to swallow his pride and dies to his own self preservation (humility) for the sake of the group or individual.

At some point in our adult lives we arrive at a cross-roads.  We chose to continue to approach life where we take control and “own it” and expect that we will finally find the fulfillment that has eluded us so many years.  Or we decide a different path; a path where we do the exact opposite and we begin to embrace the spiritual world and we give up control to a being that is greater than ourselves, one that we can’t understand and one that we can’t hardly explain. Spiritual maturity is learning how to walk in obedience to that greater authority . It is making the choice to daily live by God’s direction rather than our own human selfish ways. It is making the choice to serve and love those around us and be transformed closer to the image of Christ.

During this 3rd F convergence we are going to engage in a man-to-man discussion on the topic of maturity.  We will have a #HIM kick off the discussion with a testimony of what maturity has meant to them and then we will have an open discussion on the topic hitting on some of the following themes:

• Who was your male role model as a child that helped give you a compass as you grew from a boy to a man?  What was it about this person that you aspired to be like?
• Where are you on the continuum of emotional maturity and your ability to cope when adversity hits?  Are you more at the end of physical, verbal responsiveness or have you learned to die to self and let go of being right on principle?  What has helped you move along that continuum throughout your life?
• React to the following: “You cannot have maturity unless you have perseverance in your life and you’ve gone through some pain. God cares more about your maturity than he does about your happiness.”  What trials have you faced in your life that have birthed maturity?