Episode 9 - Security Maturity Purity: Maturity I (Part 3 of 5)

In this episode, Brett and Jake continue the series on Security, Maturity, Purity with the first of two episodes on maturity. After discussing how the foundation for maturity is trust in God’s heart and reliance on His grace, they show how God often matures us through adversity. Brett and Jake end this episode with some practicals suggestions for how to better face adversity.

Key Points

• Maturity is growing from childlike ways into the ways of a man

• The stages of security, maturity, and purity are organic, not linear

• Growth in maturity relies on established security and deep trust in God

• Often the struggles in our lives (adversity) are the means by which we are maturing

• Trusting God’s intentions is critical for maturity

• “The process of maturity is my ongoing response to God’s heart for me. It occurs when trust of God and reliance on His grace are put into action repeatedly over time, especially in times of adversity.” (Jake Khym)

• We often avoid adversity and seek emotional relief

• We often react to life emotionally instead of engaging in life based on what is good

• Joseph from the Old Testament is a good example of the process of maturity

• One can be biologically a man and spiritually or emotionally a boy

• “The measure of every man’s virtue is best revealed in times of adversity.” (Thomas a Kempis)

• We might need to slow down, gather our emotions, and/or turn to Father when we face adversity

• In times of adversity, we can remind ourselves of the truth that the Father can take of it

• Asking for help is part of being fathered

Discussion Questions

1. What struck you from this episode?

2. Read this summary again: “The process of maturity is my ongoing response to God’s heart for me. It occurs when trust of God and reliance on His grace are put into action repeatedly over time, especially in times of adversity.” Which part of this is going well for you? Which part do you need to work on?

3. What are some areas of adversity you are currently facing? How might God be maturing you through them?

4. What are some common emotions you feel when you experience adversity?

5. Brett and Jake talked about slowing down, gathering their emotions, and reminding themselves of the truth when they face adversity. What are some practical things that would be helpful when you face adversity?

Resources

• "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” (1 Cor 13:11)

• “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. “ (Teddy Roosevelt, Excerpt from his speech "Citizenship In A Republic" delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910)