There’s an old country song, written in 1999, nearly 30 years ago, that somehow still feels very recent to me. It’s titled “My Next 30 Years,” performed by Tim McGraw and written by Phil Vassar. The lyrics reflect on a life lived and what the singer plans to change moving forward, an application of wisdom gained through experience. Some lines mention finding more happiness, letting go of hate, eating more salads, and not staying up so late. It is a reflection on doing things better when given the chance, and, at its core, that is the definition of maturity: growing from our past experiences.
On Friday, I celebrated my 42nd birthday, and you start thinking about, as the song puts it, “where I go from here.” There’s also an old wives’ tale that says your body completely changes every seven years, meaning the cells you had seven years ago have all died and been replaced by new ones. I had a coworker who believed this wholeheartedly; to him, a 42nd birthday would have been a significant milestone: six full cycle changes. Our bodies are constantly in a process of change and renewal; cells die and regenerate, keeping our physical selves in a constant state of fluctuation. The hope, of course, is that you are changing for the better.
In Hebrews chapter 5, the writer calls us to feel this same sense of progression. We should be working toward maturity — not physical maturity, which has already happened for most of us, but spiritual maturity. As the author puts it, this means developing the ability to discern between right and wrong.
Hebrews 5:11-14 – “About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
The song puts it well: we should be growing from our past experiences. Not satisfied with what has been, we should be pressing forward, growing, maturing. This passage also reminds us that spiritual growth requires intentional effort. It is not a haphazard choice; it is shaped by constant practice and development.
Birthdays are a good opportunity to reflect on whether we are truly growing. My boys make marks on the wall to measure their heights, but do we take the time to monitor our spiritual health? Are we standing firm in what we have learned? Do we daily put into practice what we have been taught? As we add another year, the goal should always be to grow older and wiser.