The Setup

My previous post quoting 1 John 2:12-14 provides an outline of spiritual growth. As a child, you're still learning the basics of Christianity, like love and forgiveness. You're still developing your character and growing in strength. Much of your spiritual growth comes from what is given to you by other mature Christians.

As a young man, you start to exert this strength and apply this knowledge. You start to seek your own answers and make more of your own decisions, based increasingly on your own opinion and decreasingly on what has been told to you.

As a father, your life starts to revolve around helping the younger generation grow. Your character has been established, and the focus now shifts from yourself to others.

As a child, you needed to be defended. As a young man, you could fight your own battles. As a father, you are the defender. This explanation is a setup for my next post...