Marks of Maturity
by Charles R. Swindoll

Ephesians 4:14–15

To be mature is to be fully developed, complete, and "grown up." Becoming mature is a process of consistently moving toward emotional and spiritual adulthood. In that process we leave childish and adolescent habits and adopt a lifestyle where we are fully responsible for our own decisions, motives, actions, and consequences.

I heard someone say recently that maturity is developing and discerning competence as to how to live appropriately and to change rightly. In a word, it is stability.

We never "arrive." We are always in the process of moving toward that objective. I have also observed that when maturity is taking place, balance replaces extremes and a seasoned confidence replaces uneasy feelings of insecurity. Good choices replace wrong ones.

Do you have these marks of maturity:

• Concern for others that outweighs personal concerns
• Detection of the presence of evil before it's obvious
• Self discipline
• Compassion and involvement
• Tempered emotions
• Consistently growing in God's Word

How do your "marks" stand up? Will you work on improving them 
before the next scoring period?

 With maturity, balance replaces extremes and confidence replaces insecurity. —Chuck Swindoll Tweet This

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

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