For the most part we all understand the concept of physical
development; we understand that babies go through an amazing transformation
physically and mentally and we expect and
look for them to reach certain milestones of development. If they don't, we
know that there is a problem.
What does it take to grow up and become spiritually mature?
What stunts the growth of some believers; why do they not grow as they should?
Growth , change, acknowledgement, acceptance or improvement are
all steps taken toward a goal called "maturity". When a person is
"born again" as a child of God, he/she lacks knowledge, wisdom and
discernment and should be considered spiritually immature. As a person learns
of and seeks God he/she should develop the qualities that the Bible
lists that characterize the mature.
Many Scriptures describe the need to grow and mature
spiritually:
Ephesians 4:14,15 - Be no longer children, but grow up in
Christ.
2 Peter 3:18 - but grow in the grace and knowledge of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:3 - The Thessalonians grew exceedingly in
faith.
Philippians 1:9 - Paul prayed for their love to abound more
and more.
People develop many problems in their faith experience when
they allow things to stunt their development process: some go back to the
world, others cause strife because they want to hold on to what worked in the past,
some become stumbling blocks to others with irresponsible talk, people try to
straddle the line of worldliness and spirituality, while others give in to
indifference because their "self" work has become overwhelming
There are certain things required for spiritual maturity;
1) A desire to grow - a yearning for change
2) Nourishment -feeding
3) Exercise and practice - behavior requires repetitions in
order for it to become memory
4) Patience - know it won't happen overnight
5) Persistence - don't be afraid of setbacks and correction
Just remember this story of a little boy who fell out of
bed. When he was asked what happened, he said, "I guess I just stayed too
close to the gettin'-in place." This is why so many people fall away from
God - they stay too close to the "gettin'-in" place and do not grow.
The newness and the zeal have been starved ...why? another level of immaturity
has appeared..that being some people can only make changes as long as the
change feels good or is beneficial to them is a way they can relate to
(hedonism and the inability to see the BIG picture)
What's stunting your growth? Everyone can grow...the seed of
willingness needs to be present.
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