Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. (See Genesis 6:8)

Noah had matured in a manner pleasing to the LORD.  Are you pleasing to the LORD?  What does God say about maturing, about growing up after becoming a follower of Christ Jesus?
* Exercise the gifts He has given you.
* Be teachable, learning what the LORD teaches through His word, the Holy Bible.
* Becoming equipped for the work the LORD calls you to do.
* Build up the body (believers in Christ as Savior) of Christ.
* And be continuing to attain the unity of faith, the knowledge of the Son of God…this is a life-long process of maturing and growing.
* All of this maturation process is to continue until we attain oneness in the faith.
(See Ephesians 4:7-8, 11-13)

Growth can be painful…ask a teen-ager.  Learning new responsibilities in a job, becoming ‘one’ with your spouse…ect. is a maturation process.

Growing and maturing as a child of God will not be without pain.

Our natures want to justify our hurtful words and actions; we find “reasons” for the wrong things we do.  Our defensive words and thoughts protect us, or at least we try to protect ourselves.

Maturity is a growth process…teen-agers can be well on the road to spiritual maturity while people in their 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and even older are stunted in their maturation process because of not looking to God’s word and agreeing with Him.

Honesty…with yourself and with God, is the first step toward spiritual maturity.