A sign of maturity is the ability to look beyond oneself to the benefit of others, to look beyond one’s own desires and longings and passions to consider the desires of others. Paul models this attitude in the opening of his letter to the Colossians. He thanks God not for gifts that he himself had received but rather for the gifts that God had chosen to give to the Colossians. In so doing he points the way to maturity – maturity is the ability to overflow with thanksgiving for all that God has given us and all that God has given others.