Going On To Spiritual Maturity

Becoming a Christian happens when you turn from your sin to Christ and receive God’s forgiveness by faith Jesus. John calls this being “born again” (Jn. 3:1-18).

Birth is a wonderful thing but ecoming a Christian is just the beginning of a new life.  God’s plan for His children is that they go on to spiritual maturity.  This requires growing in our understanding of God and His word.  True saving faith results in obedience and maturity.

There are several elements necessary for our spiritual maturity.

We must take in God’s Word (Prov 2.1)

We cannot grow apart from a steady diet of the Word of God, it is our milk and it is our meat! We take in God’s Word formally and informally.  We take in God’s Word formally by participating in the corporate worship of the church… attending the preaching and teaching ministries of the church, by participating in Bible Studies and discipleship classes.  Informally we take in God’s Word through personal time in the Word and prayer and fellowship with others who also love God.

We must have an outlet to minister to others (Prov. 2.2)

We take in to give out.  This is where we must realize that to grow we must be involved in ministry.  The thought may fill us with trepidation but there can be no growth apart from getting involved in service.  We are to minister to others what God has entrusted to us.  This is done through personal interaction and through the guidance of the local church.

We must cry out to God for strength and help (Prov. 2:3)

The overwhelming sense we have of our own inadequacy and inability when we look at ministry causes us to cry out to God for help.  (Prov. 2.3).  Prayer becomes serious as we plead with Him to help us fulfill our ministry responsibility.

We must return to the Word of God to find the answers (Prov 2:4)

As we minister we realize that there is so much more we must know, so many questions that need answers (Prov 2.4).  This stimulates us to dig deeper into God’s Word to find those answers.

The digging into God’s word results in increased ministry that in turn causes us to cry out to God and dig back into the Word.  With each successive passing through these four steps our roots go down deeper and we find we are growing!

Are you serious about “Going on to Maturity”?  Get into the Word everyday!  Through your church invest what you are learning about God into someone else!  Bathe your study of God’s Word and your ministry to others in prayer!