These are the words we use when talking to children who are acting like babies. "Grow Up!" we say, when it's time to move on to a new level of maturity. Most parents look forward to the day when their kids finally do grow up and start acting like adults. Yet growing up is not as easy today as it was when our fathers were kids.
During the years when our parents were raising us, something tragic happened. Social scientists came up with all these new theories that they hoped would set the human community free. From a utopian mindset, these scientists fold our parents, "Let the child express him/her self...Freedom, total freedom is the answer!" they would say. Unfortunately, what that produced is a confused generation of parents who are totally cut off from the sound and solid advice of our grandparents.
It also produced a generation of men who act more like boys than men. REAL MEN have never backed away from responsibility. A REAL MAN always put the good of the family before his need to hang out with the guys, play with his newest toy, indulge in a day in fron of the TV, or to relive his childhood by pushing one of his kids (to the neglect of the others) in some sporting event that the father was only marginally good at. OUCH!
Yes, I bet that hurt a lot of us. I bet it spells out clearly what many of us are doing and what too many single guys are preparing to do. The key to getting over this is simple. The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13: "When I was a child, I spoke as a child and acted as a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things." God is telling this generation of adult boys to grow up.
GROW UP! Start demanding more of yourself. If you have a wife and children, be the example of a Godly man. Take the lead! Stop dictating and start leading. Place high demands on your children by the example you set, not the orders you bark out. Your children know the diffference. If they see you barking out orders rather than leading, they will never follow the orders and eventually will run in the opposite direction.
The other day, I watched this principle in action. In a public group of people, a son told the father to stick it in his ear. The father kept barking orders and the son just walked away. If your life doesn't example what you demand from your children, they will never follow and they will never respect you.
If you are a single guy, GROW UP. Stop playing the field. Follow through with the committments you have made.
If you don't like your situation, change it! stop crying about it and do something. I spoke with a young single Pastor who was bellyaching about how he just didn't like some things in his life. When he asked what I thought, I simply said, "Grow up, you big baby. Stop your crying." As a single adult, you can do anything, because you have made no permanent decisions. You guys can walk away, redo, restart, and refocus. So stop crying and do something. Anything!
Men, you and I are the hope for a new generation of people that will join the adult community. We have the greatest role in the world; that is shaping the thinking and the actions of theis new generation. When God made us, God made us capable of doing this. Isn't that a thrill? Yes, we can only do it right when we are right before God. Put away the childish things. Seek out God. Lead the way!