Maturity in Christ takes time. For some, it can be quicker than for others but for everyone maturity is a process of continual repentance, prayer, study, fellowship, worship, and service guided by the Holy Spirit. Everyone who claims Christ is on an intensely personal, albeit communally accountable, lifelong journey of sanctification.
This enduring process of sanctification is akin to the phases of growth in human beings. There are infants, toddlers, adolescents, teenagers, young adults, adults, and elders in the faith. At the onset it needs to be stated that the level of spiritual maturity is not dependent on biological age in the slightest. In contrast, spiritual maturity is dependent on consistent, disciplined faith.
The non-biological determination of spiritual maturity can seem striking but obvious. There are many older Christians who have teenager faith: always grumbling and gossiping, in-deferent towards authority, lazy in devotion, and averse to service. This is both appalling and tremendously sad. God wants so much more from each of us personally.
Paul, Peter, and James understood the value and necessity of spiritual maturity. Paul spends much of his first letter to the Corinthian church and the entire third chapter of Colossians dedicated to the subject of spiritual maturation. For Paul, belief is sufficient for salvation but the freedom that is found in Christ requires more than simple faith, it requires full-on devotion. It is this disciplined devotion that is the impetus and fuel for all spiritual maturity.
Peter, in his first epistle, indicates that we should strive for the pure spiritual milk so that we may grow to maturity (1 Pet. 2:1-3). Peter is clear that God desires active disciples who seek and yearn after Him, not passive believers who are lazy in their devotion. Jesus gave up His life upon the cross so that we may enter into relationship with the heavenly Father. When we are not continually seeking after Him in earnest, we are not taking part in the intended intimate relationship; we are just acquaintances.
The First chapter of James also deals with the challenge of spiritual maturity. For James, the determining factor for spiritual maturity is two-fold: faith amidst trials and acts of service. If we are not drawing closer to the Lord under trial, we are hindering our own spiritual maturity. Similarly, if we are not engaged and seeking opportunities to serve, we are also hindering spiritual maturity.
The through-line point here is simple: we can be either a hinderance to or a benefit to our own level of spiritual maturity. If we are passive and uninvolved in pursuing the Lord in all faithfulness, then we are the very thing that is hindering our own growth. In contrast, if we are active in prayer, regular Bible study, consistent fellowship, and service, we will mature into the people that God has created us to be. Let us strive to become a people of God who seek after Him and strive for spiritual maturity in the Lord!
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