So when do you become an adult?
Is it when you get keys to your first car at age 16?
At 18 when you can make your own legal decisions?
At 21 when you can legally drink alcohol?
When you move away from home?
When you get your first job?
When you can pay all your own bills?
When you get married?
Defining adulthood is nothing short of impossible. The idea that an age, ceremony, or responsibility defines adulthood gives no target of what it means to be an adult. So we find adults of all ages acting like children and youths acting like adults, blurring the lines of defining adulthood. So maybe the best way to define being an adult is to say it is a mindset.
Paul, while talking about love, speaks to knowing true love by laying down the things that made him a child and acting like an adult. James reminds us that we are but a vapor in this life and time is short so we need to ask the Lord what is His will for our life. (James 1:13-17)
Maybe adulthood is what Paul asserts happened when we realize this life is a vapor as James explains, prompting us to ponder the concept of defining adulthood. A mindset of adulthood embraces the reality of time (1 Corinthians 13:11). Time that has passed and is passing and will not always be present. One way to see this is by decision-making, a crucial aspect of defining adulthood.
What was it that made you say “I’m an adult now”?
