Oswald Chambers the great teacher and evangelist said, “Spiritual maturity is not reached by the passing of the years, but by obedience to the will of God”. In other words, it is not how long you have been on the road to spiritual maturity, but how far you have traveled! Show More
Now that we have covered some of the basics of Christ, Christians and Christianity, in Christianity 101- Posts 1-21, it is time to go deeper. Why go deeper you may ask? After all, I am born-again, my sins have been forgiven and the “sting of death” has been eliminated because I know I am going to heaven!
It is important to remember that although God loves you, has forgiven you, and accepted you the gift of salvation is not just for you. The Gospel is good news for all! Your family, relatives, friends, and yes even strangers.
The Bible encourages us to be willing and able to share and defend what we believe. The Apostle Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15 that we should be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks for the reason for the assurance of Christ in us with gentleness and joy.
A new Christian is like a “Baby” Christian. The Bible uses the word “carnal” to refer to a baby or immature Christian. A baby only thinks about its own needs… hold me, feed me, change me! A baby needs milk because a baby cannot handle meat and potatoes. Spiritual maturity is a process and we all begin at the same place. The natural progression is to go from child to young adult to old.
The Apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal…” You see, Paul started a church in Corinth on his first missionary journey and years later he heard that they were not growing spiritually, that was the reason this letter was sent to the Corinthian church.
As in natural life, there is an expectation of growing in spiritual maturity and eventually be in the position of helping others come to know Christ. Hebrews 5:12-14 says the following, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles (or revelations) of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age (or mature) that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil (or right and wrong)”. Again we see in God’s Word the expectation of spiritual growth.
When I graduated High School I immediately entered the Marine Corp. The first place they sent me was to “boot camp” at Parris Island, SC. This is where I learned that I was part of something that was larger than myself. I also learned to discipline myself physically and learned to control what came out of my mouth. All of these lessons came at a price because it is difficult to change, but these lessons have lasted a lifetime with profitable results.
When I graduated from boot-camp I thought I was done with the basics, instead, I was sent to another location, Camp Lejeune in NC where I went for further training in military strategy and becoming familiar with the weapons of warfare. When I graduated from Infantry Training I was then sent to San Diego, Ca for further schooling in electronics.
The point is that the end of one stage is the beginning of a new stage of growth as a Marine, the same can be said of life. Spiritual training or growth is no different. As Christians, we are continually growing, maturing coming into a greater understanding of God’s love, and His plan for our lives. Yes, God has a plan for your life! Listen to what God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”.
In closing let me say this, you can choose to stay where you are in your spiritual walk with God. As a sports figure once said. “I may have to grow old, but I don’t have to grow up”! While as humorous as that quote might be- how sad it is to think that God has made so much available to us and that we should settle for so little.
In every Christian’s life here is a season when we need milk, however, let’s discipline ourselves and learn to chew and digest the meat of His Word and grow into spiritual maturity.
