MATURE IN CHRIST OR IMMATURE
MATURE IN CHRIST OR IMMATURE
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. —Hebrews 5:12-14
Are you maturing or still living on the milk of God’s Word? Milk is for those who are “unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.” These are those who are inexperienced in God’s Word. It is interesting that those mentioned above “by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.” They should be teachers of God’s Word by now, but they need someone else to again teach them the basic principles of God’s Word. What they had been taught they did not retain.
How did this happen? Why haven’t they grown? Why are they still spiritual children and not spiritually mature adults? Why are they not feeding themselves, but need someone else to feed them? It is because they have not been applying what they have been learning! We are told that “solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”
Why were they not applying the Word of God? Were they spiritually lazy? Were they distracted? Was it fear of relationships? Why were they not maturing? Well, if you are not maturing, why is that? What are the reasons for you not maturing spiritually? We not only need to know God’s Word, but we need to apply God’s Word to grow. It is not enough to know His Word. His Word need’s to “practiced” or applied in our lives or we will stay spiritual infants and children, not spiritually mature adults. How do we know if a follower of Jesus is maturing? From this passage we know by:
- Remembering God’s Word
- Being teachers of God’s Word
- Having discernment through God’s Word
- Constantly practicing/applying God’s Word
- Identifying good and evil by God’s Word
So, according to those principles, are you spiritually mature/maturing or are you still a child needing milk, still needing to be fed by someone else? Oh, that we would be mature/maturing for the glory of God, for the benefit of others and for the benefit our ourselves as well. Yes, dear Father, may this be so in the power of Your Holy Spirit and in the authority of Your Son Jesus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zaaiFp4RSM