10 August 2025
GROWING IN SPIRITUAL MATURITY
(Biblical & Spiritual Exhortations: BSE 24)
A Christian should be a committed disciple, which means that he must grow in spiritual maturity to be strong in faith and the knowledge of Christ and the Word. He cannot be effective in serving God and witnessing for Christ if he is not growing spiritually. It is true unfortunately that there are many immature Christians in the church even though they may be believers for some years. Such believers will not be of any use in God’s Kingdom.
The Corinthain Church was like that. Paul called them spiritual babes: “I could not speak to you as spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ” (1 Cor.3:1). The reason was because the members behaved like worldly people – quarrelling and back-biting, jealous and fault-finding and above all lacking in love for one another. These are the signs of spiritual immaturity and therefore they were stumbling blocks to people – especially pre-believers.
To be a good witness for Christ and to make an impact on those around us, we need to grow in spiritual maturity. How can we do that?
1. We must be committed to the Lordship of Christ.
That means we have to surrender our lives to Christ and make Him Lord of our lives. Many only accept Christ as their Savior but not as Lord. The Bible tells us that we must believe that Jesus is Lord and God and that He died for our sins and rose again to be Lord of our lives. The Word of God says: “If you declare with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that He might the Lord of both the dead and the living” (Romans 10:9; 14:9). Only when we acknowledge Christ as Lord will we be saved and walk in victory.
2. We must grow in the knowledge of God’s Word.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Mat.4:4). Just as we need food daily to grow strong and healthy, we need saturate our lives with daily reading and meditation of God’s Word. The Bibles says, “As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grown thereby…Let the Word of God dwell in you richly…” (1 Pet.2:2; Col.3:16). God’s Word is food for our soul and spirit.
3. We must be disciplined in Worship and Prayer.
Giving time to worship God and Prayer each day enables us to grow closer to God know Jesus better. This is our spiritual fellowship with the Triune God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is through this spiritual exercise we learn to hear God through His Word and by His Spirit. The neglect of this weakens our spiritual life and causes us to be easily tempted and makes us fall easily, to the delight of the devil. There is power in prayer and worship.
There no short cuts to spiritual maturity. We have to make up our minds to be committed to these three things and be faithful to God in our walk. Love for God is our best motivation.
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