Are You Mature? To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind hearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil, or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. 1 PETER 3:8,9 NASB Would you say you�re a mature person? Most of us would. Peter, in today�s passage, gives us some checkpoints for maturity. Only he�s talking about spiritual maturity. Let�s consider these as they apply to marriage. The first one is unity or�let all be harmonious. Is there a oneness of heart, a similarity of purpose and harmony in your relationship? We�re called to live this way with other believers, even those to whom we�re married. Mutual interest is the next checkpoint. �Sympathetic� means when your spouse is weeping, you weep. When he or she rejoices, you rejoice. There is no competition, envy, or jealousy between you. When your spouse gets the attention or the raise or the promotion, you rejoice with him or her. Friendship and affection are found in the admonition �let all be brotherly.� Friends give comfort during a time of need. They reach out rather than wait to be called. �Kindhearted� is another checkpoint for spiritual maturity. How could you demonstrate kindness toward one another this week? The next one is humility. You let others give you the praise rather than giving it to yourself. Humility means no self-promotion or spot lighting yourself. Now the last one, �don�t return evil for evil,� translates into �be willing to forgive.� How do you know if forgiveness has occurred? Well, if you�ve forgiven your partner, you won�t try to strike back or get even. You�ll restrain from saying anything ugly in return. You�ll do something good for your spouse, whether you think they deserve it or not. Remember that you�ve been called to endure harsh treatment. It may be easier to reflect these traits of spiritual maturity with others you don�t know as well, but the real test comes in marriage.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 14:59:35 +0000