And we are all connected. One of the countless beautiful Biblical truths is that we are not in this alone.
I learned early in life that the only thing that really separates us is where we are in our #maturity, and that age has little if anything to do with it. I am talking about not just #intellectual or #psychological maturity, but #spiritual maturity. We can excel in one, two or all three.
Link Between Intellectual & Psychological Maturity
Everyone has heard the term "street smarts" and there is something to be said for learning through experience. Anyone who has acquired intellectual maturity through this path will tell you there are easier ways. It is those that come through hardships, trials, and tribulations either survive the experience, or have learned to thrive from the experience. The latter don't just learn what causes such situations, they learn how to avoid them. But among these lessons, they learn #empathy, #forgiveness, and how to move past pain. This is well developed maturity on both fronts.
If they have been irrevocably damaged, remain unforgiving, and lapse into a perpetual state of self-pity then they barely have survived and they are further from maturity than when they started. This is considered a victim mentality and they are more likely to attract and fall victim to the same or similar situations time and time again.
Finally there are those of us that can listen to the tales of others, read books, and listen to the world around us and make informed decisions about the types of roads we want to travel. Some of these people can be quite young. They learn from others mistakes. Some say it is harder to grow spiritually unless you actually endure hardships, but that doesn't apply to this small group of people. They understand the value of dictating their own hardships by holding themselves to a moral code, work schedule, and setting achievable goals that they are tenacious about achieving. Therefore they develop internally first the fruits of self-control, patience, forbearance, etc. They also value what they have earned so they are able to value what others have earned as well.
Spiritual Maturity
This type of maturay is best defined by the "Gifts of the Spirit". Galatians 5:22,23 - But the fruit of the Spirit is #love, #joy, #peace, #longsuffering, #gentleness, #goodness, #faith, #Meekness, #temperance: against such there is no law. This maturity grows along side your #intelligence as it grows, and your psychological fortitude as it grows. It is meant to be the ever vigilant compass that guides us into God's #eternal kingdom.
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