Colossians 2:6-8 KJV
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
We all know that a child born into this world must grow physically and mentally along the way, hopefully becoming a mature adult. In simple terms, they “grow up.”
Regarding one’s spirituality, Jesus told Nicodemus that a man must be “born again” in order to see the kingdom of God.
John 3:3 KJV
3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Being born again implies a “new birth” whereby the old is passed away and we become new creatures. This begins immediately when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
2 Corinthians 5:17 KJV
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Just like a newborn baby, when a Christian takes on the new birth, they also must grow and mature.
They start out as “babes in Christ” and if they stay committed and obedient, they grow and mature spiritually over time.
1 Peter 2:2-3 KJV
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
Just as a child grows up, those that are “born again” should strive to grow spiritually and become mature believers according to Paul.
Spiritually, they should no longer be children.
They grow up in HIM. They grow in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 4:13-15 Amplified Bible
13 until we all reach oneness in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, [growing spiritually] to become a mature believer, reaching to the measure of the fullness of Christ [manifesting His spiritual completeness and exercising our spiritual gifts in unity]. 14 So that we are no longer children [spiritually immature], tossed back and forth [like ships on a stormy sea] and carried about by every wind of [shifting] doctrine, by the cunning and trickery of [unscrupulous] men, by the deceitful scheming of people ready to do anything [for personal profit]. 15 But speaking the truth in love [in all things—both our speech and our lives expressing His truth] let us grow up in all things into Him [following His example] who is the Head—Christ.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND MATURITY
Spiritual growth and maturing in Christ do not happen overnight. They take time.
Some call this process sanctification. Whatever we desire to call it, it is simply growing and maturing in our Christian faith, as we grow closer to God through strengthening faith, prayer and study.
During this process, as we “grow”, we become more committed to God and dependent on Him for all things.
In a committed and obedient life with prayer and the study of God’s word, spiritual maturity will be reached in one’s lifetime.
Some will reach degrees of spiritual maturity faster than others, with no set number of years required.
Others will take longer. The difference in time boils down to our personal commitment.
Spiritual growth on the other hand is a process that takes place over one’s entire Christian lifetime. As long as we live, we never cease to grow in Christ, as we live the committed and obedient life.
Unfortunately, some Christians never reach the state of spiritual maturity. They find that they are not growing spiritually.
They have become “stale” or “complacent” in their spiritual life.
Complacency, according to a great evangelist of old, is a deadly foe to spiritual growth in our lives. Instead, we must have an acute desire to grow closer to God.
Here is a quote from A.W. Tozer on the subject.
“The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people.”----A. W. Tozer
Remember this one very important thing.
Salvation is free. It is God’s gift provided through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
However, after we accept Jesus into our life, our part of the bargain begins, as God requires certain things from us.
If we want to grow and mature in Christ, it requires commitment, desire, effort and obedience.
ADVERSITIES ARE NOT ALL BAD
Finally, adversity in our lives is often a driving force of our spiritual growth.
Don’t be mistaken, God DOES use adversities and trials to draw us closer to Him.
Adversities test our faith and through them, our faith grows. Also, our dependence on God grows and we realize that He is in total control.
The following is a quote from Dr. Charles Stanley on the subject.
“Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God’s most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adversity becomes easier to bear.”---- Charles Stanley
WHERE AM I ON THE SPIRITUAL GROWTH TIMELINE?
Now we come to the part of the lesson where we must look inward and take inventory of our spiritual life. In doing so, we need to ask ourselves these very important questions.
- Am I growing spiritually in my walk with God?
- Am I maturing spiritually?
If the answer to either is no, or I’m not sure, then please look inward and focus on your desire to serve God and your commitment to do so. Without commitment, desire and effort, we will find ourselves “standing still” or “falling backward” in our spiritual lives.
We know that falling backward spiritually is a dangerous place to find ourselves. However, standing still spiritually isn’t much better. When we are standing still, it is just as easy to go one direction as it is the other. Remember that thing we learned in science about an object in motion? We always want to be moving forward.
Let us have the desire and commitment to be moving forward, growing spiritually and becoming more mature in Christ each day.
2 Peter 3:18 KJV
17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.
RVH