LETTING GO OF CHILDISH WAYS: MOVING ON TO MATURITY

1 Corinthians 3:1-3

Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

Dear Reader,

A very warm welcome to this week’s devotion as we speak and reflect upon moving on from childhood unto maturity. The time is now! We must drop or throw away childish ways and adopt or pick up mature behavior, attitude and character. Some of us seem to have been children for long; crying for milk yet we are supposed to be feeding on muhogo/cassava!

This is the day that God has made. We are rejoicing and being glad in it. If you are not rejoicing, if you are not glad by this time, then I can’t tell what you are waiting for. Join me, join us! Let us celebrate life! Let us celebrate the fact that God has had mercy upon us and that we are alive today. We are not among the statistics of the dead but we are being counted among the living. Praise God!

Have you had a chance to scan through the news today? Quite a lot is going on, on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural front(s). Let us continue uniting voices to call upon God so that we may receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it. As you might be aware, Uganda is preparing for the national population and housing census which is scheduled for 10^th to 19^th May 2024. Let us prepare and be counted, accordingly so that the State/government may plan for us better as citizens.

I celebrate with those who celebrate… I thank God for those who celebrated their birthday; introduction; wedding; anniversary; promotion; received a baby or babies in their home or homes; and/or any other achievement in life. May God sustain that joy and happiness.

I stand and pray with those who are going through or have recently gone through hard, challenging, difficult and trying times. I pray for the recently bereaved that is to say, individuals and families that have lost loved ones. May God comfort and strengthen you. Please take heart and remember that no situation in life is permanent. Everything happens in its time and our Creator knows what plans there are for us who are still alive. Remember, it is not over until the very last day. Don’t give up as yet. Tomorrow will be better than today.

As we venture into this week, there is so much that we must focus on as individuals on the one hand and as social groups on the other. Whether it is at family or company/corporate level, we must move on to maturity. Maturity involves:

1. Accepting our past and present situations in life and planning or focusing on making the next second, minute, hour, day, month and year better than the past.
2. Letting go the things or people who hurt us so bad in the past or most recent past, releasing them completely and moving on with our lives.
3. Accepting that there are things or people we yearned for but could not or will never get in life and getting hold of what we can get or achieve without dwelling so much on what we could not or what we will never get.
4. Loving the people around us with a pure heart than pretending to love them when we actually don’t. why should we keep or contain hatred? What benefit do we derive from hatred? The Bible reminds us in Proverbs 15:17 that it is better to have a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred.
5. Standing and taking action for the truth, for what is right no matter the consequence. The world always places us in tight corners and wishes to make us conform to its standard or standards. However, you will realise that those who stand for the truth always stand out as exceptional. People might not/never understand you for being straight and true to life but as long as you understand yourself and that your conscience tells you that you did the right thing, that is it.

I request that we please get to work. There is no one we will blame for never meeting out targets for each day but ourselves. Let us keep the focus. Let us be good to ourselves so that we can be good to others. Should you fail to love and care for yourself, it will be hard for you to care for and love your neighbor or anyone else. Life begins with you and then spreads out to those next to you, then to the rest of humanity.

I love you, I pray for you.

Together, we make this world a better place to live in; a better place to exhibit God’s precious love for us.

Robert Mugisa Reflection 12 of 2024