Like the green fish… just happy to be me!

As we age, most of us tend to realize that we really don’t have it all figured out… that there is so much that we really don’t know…

at the same time, we generally also associate wisdom with age…

is this a paradox?

I’m not so sure… I believe this realization that we come to,  the more I learn the less I know…, is actually part of being wise. While I know I have much more to learn, I can now look back and reflect on…

my teenage years: I.Am.Invincible! (enough said).

my 20’s: this is fun! (again, enough said).

my 30’s: Ummm, I pretty much already know a lot 😉

and, since I’m closing in on the end of my 40’s… : whoa nillie….

and look forward in eager anticipation…

to the 50’s:

to the 60’s:

.
.
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To Infinity… And Beyond: Amen… thankful!

Ok, so my very first vertical “…” did you catch it 😉

I’ve grown to value the guidance of my closest friends… they help keep me on an even keel. I need that! Interestingly, two of my closest friends are Grammy Ann and G.A., 71 and 20 years old, respectively. (and yep, EVERYBODY is on board with all that… this is just a knuckle bump! If it were like the ExtraTerrestrial event, the world would know – just sayin’…). I confide in them, and I learn so much from them and the other people within my close circles

While I feel like I’m growing spiritually and absorbing wisdom, there are still recurring motif’s in my life… I’ve written about several of my shortcomings here… most notably is oh my gullibility. So I am truly amazed at my younger friends, like G.A. (yes, a female…), who have educated this old chap on quite a few things that I was missing along the way…

So the other day one of my FB friends comes up with this…

“I truly believe daughters hone their arguments, attitudes, and manipulation skills on their fathers up to the time they begin dating. Then they are polished professionals and the young boys don’t have a fighting chance.”

Dude, my daughters owned me with that stuff! We can all laugh and joke about it now, but I honestly never realized this until BM (Yes, those are his initials… don’t wear it out!) uncovered this golden nugget. Girls and guys just totally think differently when it comes right down to it… we also age and mature a little differently as well…

Ok, so I’m not really all that special or different from most people, just an average Joe trying to make a difference for God… but there is something that I see out there, that, to me anyway, seems to be a paradox to wisdom, age and spiritual maturity…

I call them the scourge of our communities… anger and jealousy.

How do these hold us back?

Whenever we’re bottled up with these demons it all goes counter to the whole idea of love your neighbor as yourself. The true expression of our heart shows up in a way that holds us back from learning and growing. Generally, that means we just need to be comfortable in our own skin…

But how?

I’m borrowing this from one of my older posts… I believe it all keys on being humble.

3 Keys To Being Humble:

• I need to think of myself only in comparison to Jesus… and continually strive to be more and more like Him.
• I need to focus on serving others, seeing the good in everyone else and showing respect for others, regardless of how I am treated (again, Jesus is the model here). Serving others… that’s Being Great!
• I have to remember to measure my value and self-worth in accordance with the skills and gifts that He gave me… which are unique to me… and just try to be me.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

Another paradox? Depends on your point of view, I guess…

Whenever I think about me… my shortcomings… I need to just think of me in comparison to Jesus… and be thankful.

Then, sure enough, everything else falls into place…

The Q: Do you see anywhere in life where there is a paradox, or contradiction to wisdom, age and spiritual maturity?

The post How To Avoid The Paradox To Wisdom, Age And Spiritual Maturity first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post How To Avoid The Paradox To Wisdom, Age And Spiritual Maturity appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.

This seems to be one of the biggest deals we face: As time goes by we naturally, as humans, get more set in our ways. We stop asking questions and start making assumptions, and we can loose our child-like virtues of faith, trust, love and forgiveness found in a humble and sincere heart. These virtues are completely different from the self-centered childish tendencies that we at times can tend toward. So I’ve been thinkin’, reading and writing material related to spiritual growth and maturity. And the more I learn I start to realize the less I know. Remember, I’m just an average Joe, not a theologian but some regular old dude that God put the passion to write into his heart.

Along the way while writing this He throws this one into the mix: “It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every support ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:11-16.

So here’s what I’m learning: There’s not a conflict between the childlike virtues and qualities God wants us to retain and the he-man nature that our Heavenly Father hopes that we mature and grow into. Sometimes we Christians give our own lot a bad name: we grow older but don’t mature spiritually, and, like the lessons from the scribes and Pharisees in the Bible, knowledge of religion is important, but even more so is getting to know and growing to become more like Jesus. Jesus emphasized repeatedly in the Bible these very knowledgeable people didn’t really know him, that they were just judgmental hypocrites. And that’s my reminder of why I want to be like a little kid… to have faith and trust in Him, and to forgive and love like Him.

Rick Warren says “Thinking of others is the heart of Christ-likeness and the best evidence of spiritual growth.”

How can you continue to grow to be more like a child today?

The post The More I Learn The Less I Know first appeared on I'm Just Thinkin'.

The post The More I Learn The Less I Know appeared first on I'm Just Thinkin'.