Paul – Signs of Maturity

James 3:13 (Msg)

    Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.

Acts 20:13-38 (NLT)

1.  A life that is no longer driven, determined and controlled by circumstances

Philip. 4:11-12 (NIV)

    I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. [12] I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

Philip. 4:13 (NLT)

    For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.

1 Thes. 5:18 (NIV)

    give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

2.  A life that interprets the changing circumstances of life through eternal values and the larger priorities of life

Acts 20:24 (NLT)

    But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God's wonderful kindness and love.

Ephes. 5:15 (NLT)

    So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise.

Acts 20:35 (NLT)

    And I have been a constant example of how you can help the poor by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

3.  A life that is no longer driven, determined and controlled by feelings and emotions

Acts 20:19-20 (NLT)

    I have done the Lord's work humbly—yes, and with tears. I have endured the trials that came to me from the plots of the Jews. [20] Yet I never shrank from telling you the truth, either publicly or in your homes.

Galatians 5:17 (Msg)

    For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day.

Col. 3:5 (Msg)

    And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That's a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God.

2 Cor. 6:12 (Msg)

    …The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way