whoa! 2 in one day!

Looking through my inbox I received a newsletter with an article that I hope to apply in my life.
I copied it so you can read it as well and possibly choose to "take off" something...

What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately

Lawana Blackwell wisely stated, "Age is no guarantee of maturity."
Now that I'm well into my forties, I understand exactly what she means! My body has certainly grown-up as aging has followed its prescribed path; but in some areas of my life, it seems as though maturity is still catching up! We don't simply grow chronologically - sometimes we develop unevenly. Our number of years can exceed our degree of emotional, spiritual, or even intellectual maturity. No matter what our age may be, it's true that we can be mature in one realm and still be childish in another. If we don't think about this, we can remain immature as we age.
I have operated under the mistaken notion that childishness and immaturity would just fade away with time. I've ignored some immaturity in my life because I just assumed that the older I got, the more mature I would become. I wonder if I am the only one who has thought this way?
Paul said, "When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things." (1 Cor. 13:11) Paul knew quite well that the addition of years does not assure the subtraction of childishness. Childish things don't just fade away with time. They must be "put away."
It's finally cold here in Springfield and I pulled my winter coat from the closet where it has hung since last March. I would have been wearing that lovely wool Banana Republic bargain for the past seven months if I hadn't made a conscious choice to take it off and put it away?
My coat doesn't just fade off of my back because the weather warms up, the seasons change or the time passes. I have to put it away. That's the way we should approach childish things. We need to put them away also. After they have served their purpose, when the season of adulthood arrives, we need to take special effort to put away the childish things.
So what childish things are still a part of this season of your life?
A quick reaction when you don't get your way? (Ouch!)
Shouting (Oops!) or pouting when something happens that you don't like?
Operating from the belief that you are the center of the universe?
An unwillingness to share your toys (or food, guilty) ...or your time, your forgiveness or your treasures?
Part of the reason we still struggle with childish things far into adulthood is because we never took responsibility for putting them away.
Sydney J. Harris once said, "We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice - that is, until we stop saying 'It got lost,' and say 'I lost it.' "
In other words, we must be accountable for the childishness that remains in our lives. We must take action to "put it away."
So here's what I'm learning about putting childishness away:

1. RECOGNIZE the areas of our lives where we still carry childishness.
   Is it in our attitudes? ("Poor me...that's not fair...") Note the season of your life. If you are an adult, do you think, speak and reason like an adult? Or do you have some tendencies to think, speak and reason like a child?
2. REMOVE the childish things.
   You can't put away your coat if you don't first take it off. The same applies to childish things. Take them off! One tug at a time, - note how you speak, how you think and how you reason. If you entertain a childish thought, put it away. If you engage in immature speech, put it away. If you reason like a child would (this usually shows up in being unreasonable), put it away.
3. REPLACE Put on...
   The same Paul who told the church at Corinth that he "put away" childish things, told the believers at Rome, Ephesus, and Colossi to be active in "putting on" that which would make them mature in Christ. If we put on the same, it will begin to replace the immature thinking, speaking and reasoning. It will replace childish things with maturity.
   
   "...put on the armour of light." (Rom. 13:12; also Eph. 6:11) "...put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Col. 3:10; also Eph 4:24) "...put on love..." (Col. 3:14) "To be mature means to face, and not evade, every fresh crisis that comes." (Fritz Kunkel) So if you are truly longing to grow up in all ways, then join me in facing the facts. It just might be time to put away childish things and put on the garment of maturity!
   Well... that's what's been percolating in me lately! - Jennifer

Thanks, Jennifer for sharing your thoughts and giving me something to think about...I wanna grown up and wear a new article of clothing.