Six inches shorter than my twin sister! As typical boy-girl development would have it, my twin sister grew taller first. I was terribly embarrassed. She was developing into a young woman and I was still a boy.
Maturation – whether physical, emotional or social – usually can not be hurried; its timing is its own. Pressuring the maturation process can actually arrest development. Growth in any given area may simply stop for many different reasons. For instance, do you know someone whose sense of humor arrested in middle school?
The same can occur in spiritual maturity, causing us to answer the biting question: Are we still growing or has our spiritual development stopped? The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus about spiritual maturity. Moving from spiritual infancy to maturity was the goal. Paul said,
". . .and mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants. . . " (Ephesians 4:13-14 NIV)
He does not mention that this is easy; in fact, it is usually filled with pain and perseverance. Growing up is hard to do.
Growing pains are real. The challenge of spiritual maturity, taking the path to fullness in Christ, points us to a life involving the painful process of growing. Please join me on this growth journey.
Sharing the journey with you,
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