STILL A CHILD
DESTINY DECODED SERIES
Over the next 3 weeks, we will be taking an in-depth look at Destiny as guided by Bishop T.D. Jakes’ extremely popular sermon series.
Part 11 of 18
The most important years of our life happen between 0–7. It is during that time span that the roots of our personalities are planted and begin to spring from the foundations. Unfortunately, during that time, various traumas can occur. They can range from verbal and physical abuse to parents divorcing and abandonment. Not only that, a child can have a “baseless” perception of experiencing a problem — though we know that a child’s understanding cannot be trusted in very heavy matters — that can influence them even in adulthood.
We often think that getting rid of childish ways and thoughts makes us the adult we are. On the contrary, that pattern of thinking is flawed. It is when we become adults that we put away childish things. In other words, there are childish ways still tugging at us even when we are adults, and we must learn to eschew and push aside those things that anchor us to immature thought patterns and methods.
Destiny calls us to a point in life that childish ways will quickly disrupt or even destroy. Upon approaching our destiny, we can pollute our current possibilities with thinking and actions that are rooted in childlike processing. We approach the newness of life with old methodologies, believing that “this” is “that.” The problem with this method is not the person, per se, but the system being relied and depended upon to help the person negotiate new territories.
When is the last time you saw a child use adult sensitivity and wisdom to survive and thrive in an atmosphere that requires maturity? Just like you have not seen a child successfully negotiate adult situations, you cannot expect childish perceptions and methods to sustain you in the atmosphere of your destiny.
Even now, there are aspects of your identity rooted in what you experienced in your childhood. But, in order for you to fully step into and occupy the space of your destiny, you must address the system that is holding you back. To ignore your childish mentality is to, ultimately, forfeit your future.
“This” is not “that,” and your destiny requires you to put away childish things.
