Maturity

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 ESV

 

One churchy term that I hear often is “how far along” is someone is their spiritual walk, or how spiritually mature are they?  Often what is implied is how long they have been a Christian.  Often spiritual maturity is equated with time and/or learning related to faith.  The more classes you take, the more information you have acquired about God, and the more time you have believed in God, assumingly the more mature you are.

 

Yet this verse is written to an established church, perhaps Spiritual maturity is more than time and information.  I believe this is critical, because scripturally what we see is the importance of transformation.  Maturity as a belief is more often connected with life change.  You can have 50 year church veterans who act like teenagers in the heat of the moment, and brand new believers able to extend Christ-like grace to others in overwhelming ways.

 

I encourage you to reflect upon your own faith journey, and to ask, is my relationship with God continually changing me?  Or how am I living in such a way that my faith IS continually changing me, and transforming every part of my life.  Scripture is clear, Spiritual maturity is not a destination we arrive at, but instead a journey that we embark on with God’s help.

 

 

Pastor Bill

[contact-form][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]