Children in Scripture often represent purity, a passionate and innocent faith, and hope for the future. “Jesus loves the little children,” the popular song reminds us — all colors, all cultures, all classes, all.
Jesus himself in Luke 9:47-48 pointed to a child as a representation of the way we are to treat others who are seen as “less than” or “inferior,” as though we were welcoming them in the name of Jesus.
Yet elsewhere in Scripture, we’re reminded that childlike faith and behaviors are not to be our goals. While the innocence of a child is to be appreciated and protected, our role model is not a child but rather Jesus — Word become flesh, our human representation of God on this earth.
This is what Paul was saying in one of his more well-known passages of Scripture about spiritual maturity.
As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “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.”
What does this mean, when I was a child I thought, spoke, and reasoned like a child? And how are we to apply it to our lives as Christians today?
Who Was Paul Writing to in This Chapter?
The Book of 1 Corinthians is the first of two epistles, or instructional letters, written by the Apostle Paul in roughly AD 55 to the early church in Corinth. Corinthian Christians included some Jewish believers but largely Gentile converts to “the Way,” as Christianity was often known then.
As with any society comprising imperfect human beings, even a society of believers, the Corinthian church was nowhere near perfect. They struggled with the cultural temptations of their Greek city, including idol worship, sexual sin, divisiveness, and more.
But the people had heard the gospel, were baptized and received the Holy Spirit, and served as the church in that realm — the body of Christ are to teach and encourage both each other and new believers.
And Paul needed them to know some very important things about their role in the world.
What Is the Context of This Verse?
As with people in churches today, Corinthian Christians grappled with a number of issues that Paul addressed throughout his letter. For example, some members of the church had wealth and some did not. Men and women often gathered together in worship.
Opinions often varied, and arguments occurred. Leadership divisions were an issue, with Paul criticizing how some would say “I follow Paul,” others “I follow Cephas” and others “I follow Christ,” instead urging them to be perfectly united instead of emphasizing those differences (1 Corinthians 10-17).
Paul’s instructions also indicate the people in Corinth experienced jealousy, quarreling, and general “worldliness” (1 Corinthians 3:3).
One man was sleeping with his father’s wife, yet there seemed to be no repercussions for him or others who behaved just as wickedly (5:1-2,12-13). Lawsuits existed among the believers (6:6), which probably painted the church in a negative light.
Therefore, Paul uses this letter to offer direct guidance on how believers should live: with self-discipline and control, remaining strong in their faith, and helping each other stay accountable to God and their church family.
They are not to “drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too” but clearly choose the way of Christ and act accordingly (1 Corinthians 10:18-22). They must use their God-given spiritual gifts for the glory of God’s kingdom and the good of the united church, knowing all are one body in Christ (1 Corinthians 12).
But the Corinthians, as people often do, had clearly begun to elevate some spiritual gifts above others, apparently considering some gifts “better” than others.
All this brings us to Paul’s larger message about spiritual maturity — and the point that we don’t know anywhere near as much as we think we do. That is, we are still thinking “like a child.”
Collective Growth
As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13, so many things fade with time — prophecies might cease, knowledge might pass away, voices may quiet. Only love ever remains. Love is the one thing we can always count on.
Therefore, Paul reminds the church here, don’t assume you are wise and understand the full message, that you can see the entire picture as a mere human still alive on this earth.
Rather, know that faith means not always knowing everything, but having hope that God’s great love will come to fruition when we all work together in Christian unity toward the goal of all receiving salvation.
Paul compares this in verse 11 to the difference between being a child and an adult. When we were children, Paul noted, we viewed the world from a child’s perspective.
We were immature, naïve, and perhaps irrational. But when we grew up and understood life better, our perspective changed. We “put the ways of childhood” behind us.
Given this, Christians must understand that while the believers we are today is a good start, we are intended to grow and change with time.
Slowly, our faith will deepen, and we will begin to learn more about God’s purpose. Later, when our earthly form is done and we have been resurrected with Jesus, that is when we will understand the full message and full point of all God is doing.
In the meantime, Paul says, we must be content with what we do not know, striving to live in line with the teachings we receive and the Holy Spirit in our hearts, knowing that one day, God's promises will be fulfilled.
It’s the same concept reflected in Isaiah 55:8, when God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
Therefore, forget about pointless squabbling over which gifts are more desirable. Focus only on love, and on unity, for at the end of it all, only love will remain, far past any other spiritual gift we might possess.
We must understand that our goal is to reach fullness in Christ collectively, not individually. We are to grow as a body, as a people, all gifts serving to help one another so all can grow and blossom in God’s vast, generous love.
What Does the Bible Say about Spiritual Maturity?
The Bible makes this point in other places, too. For instance, in the Book of Hebrews, the writer criticizes the church for falling away from its teachings — regressing to the point where they need milk again, like babies.
In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:12-14).
And in Ephesians 4:11-15, we’re told that Jesus gave us spiritual gifts to build up the whole body in unity and faith.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ (Ephesians 4:14-15).
The Old Testament, too, makes similar points. For example, Proverbs 28:26 offers, “Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.”
The bottom line is that Paul wanted the Corinthian church — and likewise, Christians today — to know we don’t always see things in the right perspective.
But we need to try to grow and mature in our faith, focusing on love and unity and not getting caught up in petty quarrels. We must put aside childish things in the name of love, and in the name of Jesus.
For further reading:
Why Is Spiritual Maturity Important?
Can Children Truly Understand the Bible?
What Does it Mean to be a Child of God as an Adult?
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