{"id":218,"date":"2023-01-25T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=218&2023"},"modified":"2023-01-23T17:00:14","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T00:00:14","slug":"humility-and-maturity-luke-15-11-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/humility-and-maturity-luke-15-11-32\/","title":{"rendered":"Humility and Maturity: Luke 15:11-32"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: Luke 15:11-32 (NIV)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\"><p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">11<\/sup> Jesus continued: \u201cThere was a man who had two sons. <sup class=\"versenum\">12<\/sup> The younger one said to his father, \u2018Father, give me my share of the estate.\u2019 So he divided his property between them. <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">13<\/sup> \u201cNot long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. <sup class=\"versenum\">14<\/sup> After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. <sup class=\"versenum\">15<\/sup> So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. <sup class=\"versenum\">16<\/sup> He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">17<\/sup> \u201cWhen he came to his senses, he said, \u2018How many of my father\u2019s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! <sup class=\"versenum\">18<\/sup> I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. <sup class=\"versenum\">19<\/sup> I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.\u2019 <sup class=\"versenum\">20<\/sup> So he got up and went to his father. <br>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cBut while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">21<\/sup> \u201cThe son said to him, \u2018Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.\u2019 <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">22<\/sup> \u201cBut the father said to his servants, \u2018Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. <sup class=\"versenum\">23<\/sup> Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let\u2019s have a feast and celebrate. <sup class=\"versenum\">24<\/sup> For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.\u2019 So they began to celebrate. <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">25<\/sup> \u201cMeanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. <sup class=\"versenum\">26<\/sup> So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. <sup class=\"versenum\">27<\/sup> \u2018Your brother has come,\u2019 he replied, \u2018and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.\u2019 <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">28<\/sup> \u201cThe older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. <sup class=\"versenum\">29<\/sup> But he answered his father, \u2018Look! All these years I\u2019ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. <sup class=\"versenum\">30<\/sup> But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!\u2019 <\/p>\r\n<p>\u00a0<sup class=\"versenum\">31<\/sup> \u201c\u00a0\u2018My son,\u2019 the father said, \u2018you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. <sup class=\"versenum\">32<\/sup> But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.\u2019\u00a0\u201d <\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke 15:11-32&amp;version=niv\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">Luke 15:11-32<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>In today\u2019s journal entry, we are going to be touching on one of Jesus\u2019 most famous parables \u2013 the parable of the lost son. However, while we could focus on the lost son, or on the Father character, the big idea I want to bring out from this parable comes from the character of the older brother.<\/p>\r\n<p>At the beginning of the parable, we get a pretty strong impression that the younger (rebellious) son is immature, because demanding his inheritance early is similar to saying that his father is dying too slowly. He then proceeds to leave town and waste the money on wild living.<\/p>\r\n<p>Back at home, we can only imagine the older brother to be way more mature, having chosen to stay and continue working in the family business.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, when famine strikes and the younger son hits bottom and makes his way home, we get a glimpse into both brothers\u2019 characters. We see the younger brother, with a lot more life experience (and maturity), practicing a speech that is a complete 180 degree shift from his earlier demands. Life has taught this son something the father was never able to \u2013 maturity.<\/p>\r\n<p>In contrast, the older son, who never left the business, reveals his character when the father chooses to celebrate the return of his younger brother. The older brother becomes jealous, resentful, and angry at the thought of celebrating.<\/p>\r\n<p>Both sons really wanted the same thing, but the Father sees and knows something that both sons don\u2019t realize: <strong>Humility is a sign of maturity.<\/strong> By getting angry at the celebration, the older son reveals how immature he really is. He isn\u2019t gutsy enough to demand his inheritance early (like the younger son), but he was missing opportunities to grow while at home. At the close of this parable, we find the younger son having matured significantly more than the older son, something I am sure the father has picked up on.<\/p>\r\n<p>So what about in our own lives?<\/p>\r\n<p><em>Do we live and act out of an inner humility \u2013 which helps reveal our real maturity level \u2013 or do we live and act in a way that reveals how immature we really are?<\/em><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--218\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '218');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In today\u2019s journal entry, we are going to be touching on one of Jesus\u2019 most famous parables \u2013 the parable of the lost son. However, while we could focus on the lost son, or on the Father character, the big idea I want to bring out from this parable comes from the character of the [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Humility and Maturity: Luke 15:11-32 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/humility-and-maturity-luke-15-11-32\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Humility and Maturity: Luke 15:11-32 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In today\u2019s journal entry, we are going to be touching on one of Jesus\u2019 most famous parables \u2013 the parable of the lost son. 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