Guess who’s tired of her big girl panties? She wants her diaper back!
One of my Facebook friends posted what so many of us have thought at some point. “Put your big girl panties on and deal with it” sounds like a mature way to deal with the frustrations of life, but it’s more difficult to put into practice.
Another Facebook friend posted a photo of her young daughter collapsed in a fit with a “Put your big girl panties” sign hanging around her neck. I thought the mom had strategically placed the sign as a photo op. No, she gave the sign to her fit-throwing daughter and told her to read it aloud. After pausing the fit long enough to spit out the words, the daughter placed the sign around her own neck and collapsed in a continued fit.
Some days are just rough. The anticipation of “when I grow up” meets the reality of “I’m a big kid now” and living as a grown-up doesn’t match our imaginative childhood play as a grown-up.
Growing up comes with a lot of benefits – alongside responsibilities and pressure. But God never intended for us to remain childish. While he loves the wonder and trust of childlike faith, he wants us to feast on solid spiritual food. In order to fulfill our calling, we must grow, which means we have to work through the tough stuff. We have to seek God and let him convict us of the stuff in which we have wrongly placed our trust. We have to invite him to reveal himself to us, which means we have to pay attention. As we do, we must look with his perspective, taking off our own tainted glasses, no matter how “right” we think we are. We have to set ourselves aside and trust who God says we are instead of who we want to be. He created us, and he knows us better than we know ourselves. We have to get into, stay in, and live out God’s Word. We can’t simply search Scripture for what we want to find, what will confirm what we already believe. We have to ask God to reveal his character and truth to us as we search even if it means dispelling incorrect assumptions and misguided beliefs. We then have to live it out. It’s tough. Living out God’s Word often feels like walking barefoot on hot pavement. God knows our discomfort, but he’s more concerned about our growth.
What are you doing to mature spiritually right now?
What are you doing to remain spiritually immature?
You’re expending energy to do one or the other (or both at the same time). Consider which will be a better investment for you in the long run, not what’s easiest today.
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are so slow to understand. By now you should be teachers, but you need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God’s message. You still need the teaching that is like milk. You are not ready for solid food. Anyone who lives on milk is still a baby and knows nothing about right teaching. But solid food is for those who are grown up. They are mature enough to know the difference between good and evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14)
One more thing. Putting your big girl panties on isn’t just about you. Your spiritual maturity impacts those around you. There are plenty of people who are willing to serve in the nursery, rocking spiritual infants, because (1) helping others grow is hard work, and (2) maintaining a community of spiritual infants makes it easier to avoid personal spiritual maturity.
There will always be spiritual infants, because it’s an unavoidable stage of faith, but it’s not a permanent stage of faith. Get out of the nursery and help those in it to graduate into a more advanced class. It’s time to put your big girl panties on and do the life God intends for you.