It’s time to move on, in every way that counts.
“Hey Daddy, look at me!” I turned my head in enough time to see my son fall face-first in front of me! It must have been painful for him—it was definitely painful for me to watch.
As I helped him up, dusted him off and bandaged him up, I noticed that he had my big size 111/2 shoes on his little 81/2-year-old feet. From the beginning, he was doomed for failure.
After “debriefing” him I found out that—in his childish, but well-meaning—logic, he had put them on because he “wanted to be grown” like me. He reasoned (wrongly) that this would help him take a step (no pun intended) in the right direction.
Boy was he wrong. He suffered a painful consequence, and a scar on his knee forever to remind him of his mistake.
Breaking Free of Past Patterns
For Valentine’s Day many of you will be actively choosing to make plans that will only cause you to have more regrets in your life.
As another year draws closer to Valentines Day, many of you will be actively choosing to make plans that aren’t positive and will only cause you to have more regrets in your life; thus acting like you’re refusing to graduate, grow up, and move on from toxic relationship foolishness. Some, likely fearful and anxious of what the future holds, resist taking the natural next step in their maturity and will, like the proverbial “Peter Pan” seek to not grow up.
Imagine how silly it was for my son to think he could wear my shoes and still function…I know, unrealistic right? But imagine how much more unrealistic it will be for some of you to think that you can go backwards in your emotional, spiritual and physical development—remaining children.
The Apostle Paul, wrote the Christians at Corinth, in Greece, about the importance of acting their age and I think it’s relevant to what we’re talking about; read it and you decide:
“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11, NLT).
Now I know that finishing another year of life hardly qualifies you or your friends as adults, but it does bring you one scary step closer to adult-hood…and that should bring you excitement and anticipation, not fear and anxiety. It’s perfectly normal to be somewhat apprehensive about what the future will bring, but uncertainty about the future is different than sheer terror and paralyzing panic!
A Valentine’s Day Gift to Yourself
So with that being said, I want to give you an assignment, because the month of February is historically focused on relationships, prior to Valentine’s Day, take some time to, instead give yourself a gift; come up with some simple goals about what you want your relationships to look like. God has promised you, that, as a follower of Jesus, you don’t have to continue to live the way that you used to live; you can grow up and mature and improve:
“The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires” (Romans 13:12-14).
Think about what you want to accomplish and what your plans are for, not just Valentine’s Day, but for the rest of your life.
Now go on and act your age!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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