spiritual maturity Archives

“Are You Growing in Christ—or Just Growing Older?” December 5

Dec 5, 2025

How can you tell whether you are really growing spiritually?

Is it how long you’ve been a Christian?

How much Bible knowledge you have?

How often you attend church?

How many Christian books you’ve read?

Those things can be valuable, but none of them necessarily proves spiritual maturity.

Jesus said a tree is known by its fruit.

And that raises a more personal question:

What kind of fruit is growing in my life?

We are not saved by good works, and we do not remain in God’s grace by performing well enough.

But when God truly changes a life, something begins to happen.

New desires appear.

Old patterns are confronted.

Love grows.

Obedience matters more.

And over time, there should be increasing evidence that we are becoming more like Christ.

Today’s reading in 1 John gives us several ways to examine that fruit.

So as you read, don’t merely ask, “How much do I know?”

Ask:

“What is God producing in me?”

We’ll also look at God’s astonishing love for His unfaithful people in Hosea, the blessing of receiving loving correction, and the glorious promise that one day every believer will be completely like Christ.

“Why Aren’t More Long-Time Christians Spiritually Mature?” November 9

Nov 9, 2025

Does being a Christian for a long time automatically make us spiritually mature?

What about knowing a lot of Scripture?

Attending church every week?

Going to Bible studies?

Listening to sermons?

Using Bible software?

Reading devotionals?

Even earning a theology degree?

Those things can all be valuable.

But Hebrews 5 gives us a sobering answer:

Time and knowledge alone do not produce spiritual maturity.

The believers addressed in Hebrews had been Christians long enough that they should have been teaching others.

Instead, they still needed someone to teach them the basics.

They had been around truth.

They had heard truth.

They had learned truth.

But something was missing.

Verse 14 tells us what it was.

The mature are those who, “because of practice,” have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

In other words:

Spiritual maturity does not come merely from knowing more. It comes as we repeatedly put God’s truth into practice.

So today we’re asking:

Are we actually growing—or are we simply accumulating more Christian information?

And what does it really take to move from spiritual infancy toward maturity?

“How Would You Score on This Spiritual Maturity Test?” October 12

Oct 12, 2025

Most of us enjoy a good quiz.

We like finding out how much we know, where we stand, or how we compare with others.

And checklists can be helpful because they make things concrete.

But what if the questions weren’t about trivia, intelligence, personality, or pop culture?

What if the questions were about spiritual maturity?

Colossians 3 gives us something very much like that.

Paul talks about anger, lying, sinful desires, pride, patience, forgiveness, thankfulness, our knowledge of Scripture, our relationships at home, our attitudes at work, and much more.

And if we’re willing to let God’s Word function like the mirror James described, the questions can become very personal.

Am I becoming more compassionate?

More patient?

More forgiving?

More thankful?

Am I putting sinful desires to death—or making excuses for them?

Am I becoming a God-pleaser rather than a people-pleaser?

And what would those answers reveal about my spiritual growth?

Of course, this isn’t a test we pass by achieving perfection.

None of us will.

But Scripture does give us a picture of what increasing maturity should begin to look like in the life of a believer.

So today, instead of comparing ourselves with someone else, let’s look into the mirror of God’s Word and ask:

How am I doing—and where does God want me to grow?

5 Ways God Finishes His Work in Us

Dec 27, 2015

Philippians 1.6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

What a great promise! We can be confident, not in ourselves that we’ll somehow make it to the end, but if we belong to Him, He will finish the work He has started in us. God Himself is the guarantor of His promises.