Problems arise between Christians (anybody for that matter) where dishonesty, disloyalty, pride, partiality and the evil likes are present. These are not fruits of the Holy Spirit, rather they are the fruits that spoil the church, and any attempt at happiness. Spiritual Immaturity is intact when the believer lacks an ongoing relationship with their savior. An immature believer has prideful heart, and at times discounts the truth. They tend to disregard that our God is ALIVE and has the power to work within us. They lack faith, and instead of asking for God to be the strength within in them, out of a prideful attitude they try to save themselves and they strive to ‘work’ for their salvation. They idolize relationships, drugs, alcohol, lust and other vanities under the sun. They are consumed by the world as Satan fights for their love they give in to materialism. An immature Christian is not really a Christian, yes they believe in God, but do they in fact follow Christ? This is the true test.
A Christian in its simplest and rawest definition is a Christ follower.
Spiritual Maturity to me would be defined in multiple ways. First and foremost- I would define spiritual maturity as an eager believer yearning to fall deeper in love with his or her savior more and more each day. The mature Christian has a humble attitude they realize they need a savior- we all do! The believer’s life should hold clear evidence that he or she is a Christian. As Francis Chan states “the believer’s life should look strange to the unbeliever.” The believer should have unwavering faith in Christ and he or she should have the attitude of a bond servant to the Lord. This means that as a mature Christian the believer should be obedient to God’s word. A mature Christian should always seek Gods approval and never that of the world. As a mature Christian the believer values their quite time as time to listen to the Holy and divine spirit.
A mature Christian knows that sometimes being weak is being strong. In moments of weakness they fall to their knees asking God to restore them, and He does when the believer asks in genuine faith. A mature Christian has an active prayer life. Everyday should be an act of taking up ones cross, by asking God to replace their selfish desires with desires to bring God glory. A mature Christian does not compromise they hold onto the truth they hold onto in their heart. A mature believer’s love for Christ should manifest into action. What does this look like?
A life of service
A life of gratitude
A life of constant humility
A life of loving words of encouragement
A life filled with songs and hymns to ones savior…the list goes on.
My prayer is that my life would like that of the Mature Christian. I pray that as I mature I hold onto child like faith, with loving submission to her heavenly father. I love my creator and I long to love him more each day and to take that love and share that with others. I want to look at life and everything in it as beautiful because it is. Sure life inevitably has trials and let downs, but those trials can and will later be triumphs as I yield to Gods loving plan. I pray that I would see opportunity to serve where others would see opportunity to grumble. I pray that God would continue to tug at my heart gently as he always has. I pray that He would be the change in me, the light in me for the entire world to see. I pray that I would have confidence in myself because I confide in the Lord alone. Lastly I pray that the Lord would minister to me through his Word, through the counsel of the lovely ladies in this room and through life’s many trials.
What has God placed in my heart?
- The desire to work with the youth, more specifically middle school girls
- The desire to share my testimony
- The desire to be a missionary
- The desire to attend Bible College
- The desire to counsel with a theological background
- The desire to be a part of a writing ministry
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