Christian Growth
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. 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 of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. – Hebrews 5:12-14 NKJV.
Tragically, many of us do not grow to maturity as Christians. Others grow slower than some. I know exactly why I did not grow, as I should have after receiving Christ as my Savior. It was because I was not praying, as I should have. I was not reading God’s Word, as I should have. I was not attending church as I should have, and I was not serving God, as I should have. Whenever I began to do those things, I began to grow as a Christian. Sadly, my lack of growth caused all kinds of problems and only when I began to grow did those problems begin to go away. I could have saved myself, and those close to me so much pain if I had immediately started praying, attending church, reading the Bible and actively serving the Lord.
To grow as children of God our spiritual nature must be fed. The apostle Paul is speaking of that in Romans 8:5-6, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” In Romans 13:14 Paul tells us, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” We are to clothe ourselves with Jesus, and instead of thinking about how to gratify the flesh, we should be thinking about how to feed our spiritual nature.
Paul gives us some things to feed the spiritual nature with in Philippians 4:8-9, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” We know Paul said to follow him, because he was walking in the steps of Jesus. We know that Paul was preaching the Word of God. We know that he was a man of prayer. We know that he was very, very busy in the service of His Lord.
On a scale of one to ten, where are you at as a Christian? Have you grown in maturity since salvation, or do you still need to be taught the basic “…principles of the oracles of God?” The good news is that we can grow if we want to grow (If you have no desire to grow as a Christian you need to examine whether you actually have a relationship with Jesus.). Ask God to help you to grow as His child and become more and more like Jesus.
(Why some do not grow to maturity in the Christian faith.)