Striving For Spiritual Maturity

-November 10, 2021-

Good morning, happy Wednesday,

“For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are full age, that is, those by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

(Hebrews 5:13-14).

So many Christians do not grow very much in their relationship to Christ. They attend church on Sunday, hear the message, and say the right things, but they remain spiritual babes in Christ. Thankfully, there are others who are growing in Christ and striving toward spiritual maturity. The writer of Hebrews rebuked the Hebrew Christians for their lack of progress. He wrote in the preceding verse, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food” (Hebrews 5:12).

• Baby Christians – Those who are first saved need the milk of the Word in order to grow. They are so new that they need to learn the basics of the Christian faith. Things such as how to read the Word and apply it to their lives, to pray, to fellowship with other believers, to attend a Bible believing church, and to share their faith with those who do not know the Lord. Milk is good but once one is no longer a babe, he needs solid food.

Paul chided the Christians in Corinth for the same issue. He wrote, “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not solid food; for until now you are still not able; for you are carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? For when one says, ‘I am of Paul,’ and another, ‘I am of Apollos,’ are you not carnal.” The word carnal means worldly or secular. Carnal Christians cause many problems in the church. They are not well grounded in the Word and can be easily influenced by the world and its way of thinking.

• Mature Christians – Those who are full age, feed on the solid food, or as it is rendered in the King James Version, meat. If one is to grow to maturity, he must be well acquainted with the Word of righteousness. The writer says, “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised (or trained) to discern both good and evil.” The old expression is so true, “Use it or lose it.” Mature Christians have well worn Bibles. They read and study the Word and meditate on it daily. In so doing they know the difference between good and evil.

There many things in the world that are clearly evil, and we should hate them and shun them. Others are clearly good. There are other things that require discernment. The word discernment is defined as, “The ability to judge well.” Someone said, “The fundamental definition for Christian discernment is a decision making process which an individual makes a discovery that can lead to future action. In the process of Christian spiritual discernment God guides the individual to help them arrive at the best decision.”

In Ezekiel 44:23, in speaking to the priests, the Lord says, “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Would you say you are still a babe in Christ or are you striving toward spiritual maturity? Are your senses exercised to discern between good and evil? Just because something is not bad or evil doesn’t make it good and right in God’s sight. Good, better, best; choose God’s best and discard the rest!

Have a blessed day striving for spiritual maturity through a close walk with Christ in His Word and prayer. Then we will have our senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean