Reflecting on Aging

Age is just a number.

You’re only as old as you think.

We’ve all heard these or similar sayings. I think I get the sentiment they express – age shouldn’t hold you back from being, accomplishing, and doing. At the same time, midlife has begun to show me that age does impact all these areas.

It’s not that I can’t accomplish and be productive; it’s that my body and mind function differently than they used to. In other words, I don’t operate the same mentally or physically as I did in my 20s, 30s, or even just a decade ago. I shouldn’t, either. Not only that, but in many ways I don’t want to be the same as I was in my younger days. I don’t want to think and act the way I did when I was less mature.

Admittedly, I would like some physical reboots, but I wouldn’t trade what I am today in total for what I was at any point in my past. Though I might redo some aspects, I wouldn’t change most things. Even cherry picking from parts of me would be difficult because of the intertwining of all aspects of who I was with who I have become.

The Bible & Aging

Before just a couple of years ago, I honestly never paid attention to Bible verses about aging. Now, though, they are ministering to me in surprising ways. Here are some examples:

2 Corinthians 4:16 – While I’m physically wasting away, my inner self is renewed daily. In a sense, then, I’m not aging at all.

Proverbs 16:31 & Proverbs 20:29 – Splendor is found with gray hair. All that comes with aging produces something otherwise unobtainable.

Job 12:12 – Wisdom and understanding come with age. I didn’t know how much I didn’t have when I was younger.

Psalm 92:12-15 – The righteous bear fruit in old age. Rewards come from living for Jesus.

Titus 2:3 – Be appreciative and respectful and teach others. There’s still work to do.

Isaiah 46:4 – God sustains me all the days of my life. He’s never failed me and never will.

Though I’m not sure what “act your age” means right now, I am sure that God still has purpose for me. Rather than having my best years behind me, they are in many ways still ahead.