Spiritual Maturity

When we hear the word “maturity” we tend to think of becoming older.  We associate this word with being wiser and smarter, or more experienced in the ways of the world.  We often start to place particular ages on these “mature” people, assuming that once they reach adulthood they are now mature.  It’s not the case when we talk of “spiritual maturity.”  This concept is more about becoming who we are in Christ.  It is about growing in God’s intended direction, making ourselves more like Him with each and every increase.  This can be rather overwhelming and confusing to some, making it something that they tend to move away from or avoid.  God has the right advice for those seeking to be more “mature” spiritually. 

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Colossians 3:1-3(NKJV)

It is not enough to make oneself more familiar with the Word of God.  Anyone can do this on a daily basis, memorizing scripture as a way of paying homage to our God.  The real effort comes when a person seeks maturity in their spiritual life and begins to apply God’s Word to their daily routine.  This is where memorization can take hold, when we actually start living God’s way, creating a pattern of good behavior that is infectious.  We often approach our spiritual maturity as if we are simply trying to know more about our God.  This can only work when we apply this increase to our lives, creating new attitudes, new behaviors and new impressions on the lives of others.

“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” Colossians 3:12-14(NKJV)

 We grow our relationship with our God when we live by His Word.  We mature in our spiritual understanding when we can show concern, “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.” 

Through these actions, we demonstrate a level of “spiritual maturity beyond our years.”

“in the world, not of the world”

Our Best Performance

Life has become one huge popularity contest.  We strive to be the most notable, the most famous, the most recognized and the most talked about person we know. We try very hard to please the world in order to receive accolades and applause.  We seek acceptance in our peer groups in order to increase our approval rating.  Our focus is on our performance, or our acting out the part of the person that gains approval from the world.  This is how God gets pushed out of our lives.  When He is not the most popular things going these days, we shift our attention to what is “in.”

Maybe we should work harder at making Christianity the “in” thing, or the more popular alternative.  Do you think it’s possible to make “becoming a follower of Christ” the one thing we all want?  We all would want to act and feel the same way.  But the world would suffer.  The world would not have any influence and would not be able to have any impact on who we are, what we do, what we buy and where we want to go.  That would be a disaster in an economy built on this influence.  God gives us a few tips on just how to become the major influence He needs us to be.

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33(NASB)

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Romans 12:21(NASB)

“For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.” 2 Peter 2:20(NASB)

 When we are more accepting of our life, and our God, we intentionally move in situations daily because we realize this is how God wants us to serve.  When we apply God’s Word to our lives, we are becoming very intentional about serving others.  We are not looking for the applause, but simply doing what is right, what is honorable and what is pleasant to the sight of our God.  We find that we are overcoming all of the world’s bad influences and creating a stronger influence of our own.  We are beating the world at its own game.

“You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4(NASB)

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”  1 John 5:4(NASB)

Make sure you are taking on the role given to you by our mighty Director, our awesome God. 

“in the world, not of the world”

Do I look OK?

 The first thing we do when we wake up in the morning is that we check our reflection in the mirror to make sure no dramatic changes have taken place, no extensive wrinkles have appeared and nothing is missing.  We all want to make sure that we do not have to worry about our appearance because we look Ok.  At first glance, everything looks just as it did when we went to bed the night before.  But the truth of the matter is not reflected in the mirror.  The mirror does not see things of the heart, and that’s where the changes are taking place.  We have allowed the world to change our heart, and we are not even aware of it.  But fear not, the heart is where God can do His best work if you let Him.  He will make sure we all look good before we leave His house. 

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NASB

It can be very difficult to protect our hearts from the negative influences of the world.  We seem to have a direct pathway from our eyes and ears that flow into our hearts, allowing us to see only the bad, and never the good.  In turn, we begin to channel these same harsh influences to others without even realizing it.  We internalize all of the harmful and destructive feelings, making it a part of who we are.  We allow the world to have a bigger influence over these matters of the heart, crowding out our God in the process.  We create an appearance that looks nothing like we feel in order to hide these harmful images. 

Sometimes I want to be the person who wears my feelings on my sleeve.  This way, everyone will know just how I feel, and I would not have to make any effort to hide it, even if the feelings are not that wonderful.  But the better solution to the problem is giving all of our cares and worries over to God.  When we do this, we don’t carry them around, looking to hand them off to someone who doesn’t need them because they have enough, thank you. 

Allowing our God to clean our hearts of all of the world’s mess can be helpful when it comes to our appearance. It allows God the room He needs to cleanse our hearts and minds of all the bad stuff that the world throws our way.  When we do this, we are putting on our best face for the rest of the world to see.  We are smiling in the mirror because we have the confidence that God will take care of how we look, how we feel and how we relate to others. 

How do you look today?

“in the world, not of the world”