"Turning Our Hearts"

If you look carefully at the meaning of what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 13, there is something which most of us may not pick up easily; mostly because of our own upbringing. Paul says, in verse 11, "When I was a child"; because, within the Jewish culture, this is a pretty big deal for a young man; it is when they are considered to have become a man. It is a point in a young man's life where they are to mark a turning point; a point where they are to look towards manhood, and those things which are related to being responsible for one's self; and away from the things which were of the childhood, which was dependent upon childish things and a carefree heart. This concept of speaking as a child, understanding as a child, and thinking as a child, is a manner of the heart; in which one's heart is still on the playground, so to speak. In other words, our heart is stuck on childish things when it comes to taking responsibility for our actions, and living a fulfilled Life in Christ. When you look at the heart of a child, there is a sense of testing, which is pretty obvious; where many of their actions are motivated by seeing what their boundaries are, and then crossing those boundaries. This is the result of a rebellious heart, which is a heart that wants to be independent of authority. However; when Paul says, "but when I became a man, I put away childish things", it is because we must come to a point where we are no longer playing games with God; a point where we take on the responsibilities of a man, and stop plotting our independence from authority, and begin following after that which actually makes us independent. In a way, this is very much similar to the concept of marriage and the role of a husband in the marriage; where it is his responsibility to leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife. There is a turning point in the man, where he no longer is dependent upon and attached to the upbringing of his parents, but is joined together with his wife into a new life. It is this new life, that makes the man a husband to his wife; where he is responsible to love her, care for her, and provide for her; no longer choosing to be provided for, and resting in the comfort of what that brings; because with that comfort, also comes foolishness, and childish actions of the heart... "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the Word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the Truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." (2 Corinthians 3:17-4:2)