The hard work of adulting

How “adult” do you feel on a daily basis? If you’ve been grown-up for a long time, this may feel like a silly question. But there is a new trend in our culture of young people “adulting” – acting in a way that an adult would.

Reading through recent Twitter posts about #adulting seems to show a few trends:

  • Milestones are key– have you bought a home, gotten married, had children? Like it or not, you are… #adulting.
  • Independence is important– have you moved out, gotten a job, started paying rent? You might just be… #adulting
  • Taking responsibility for yourself helps– do you handle your own laundry, make your own scrambled eggs, pay your bills? Yes, even this is… #adulting

These are all good things in life, but it is true that these adult behaviors require hard work. If you own your home, you have to figure out what to do about the broken refrigerator. If you pay rent, you can’t spend your whole paycheck on video games and junk food.

You may not always feel like an adult, act like an adult, or even want to be an adult. But the reality is, God has created us to be born as infants and then to grow up. In the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam work to do, responsibilities, before the Fall. Yes, after the Fall there was the curse of toiling, sweating, hurting because of our work. But we are created to grow up, become mature, and do the work God gives us.

Check out 1 Corinthians 3:2. If you are satisfied forever with milk instead of solid food, something is wrong. The same extends to becoming an adult. Handling your own laundry and going to work 9-5 might feel like adulting, but the real sign of maturity is sticking with our responsibilities when they are hard, uncomfortable, and frustrating. We can laugh at the 20-something guy going home on the weekend for mom to do his laundry, but we cannot laugh at the spouse who packs up to leave because they are no longer happy, or the employee who turns a blind eye to ethical dilemmas in the workplace. Being an adult is hard work, but it is good, right, and biblical.

Take a look at Genesis 2:24, Jeremiah 1:7, 2 Timothy 2:22. Pursue maturity. Go where God calls you. Take your responsibilities seriously. This is hard work, adult work, but it is also good work.