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“Watch you, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13).
The Corinthians were generally an intelligent and gifted group of believers, yet the Apostle Paul spoke to them as if they were really babies in Christ. Earlier in this same book, Paul tells them that they were acting like spiritual babies. They were not using their gifts and their knowledge in the right way, for they were using their spiritual gifts to “show off.” They were proud of their knowledge, and instead of using their gifts for the Lord, they were using them to make themselves look good.
At the end of the epistle, Paul reminds them to “quit you like men.” That means, in simple terms, to “grow up,” and to act in a mature way. A mature Christian uses what he or she has for the Lord’s glory, and not simply to show off, so that other people can see it.
Even though we are young, we can act in a mature way. This does not mean that we try to act as if we were forty, when we are only twenty. It simply means that we act for the Lord’s glory, and for the blessing of others, rather than trying to get people to look at us, and be impressed with us.
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