All living things must grow, but that growth looks different at different stages of life and in different areas of life. For example, while our physical growth reaches its peak in the first few decades of our lives, our emotional, mental, and spiritual growth can continue long after physical growth has all but stopped. Your spiritual maturity is one area of your life where you never quite peak – you simply grow from strength to strength if you’re applying yourself.

Why pursue spiritual maturity?

We were created by God and for God (Genesis 1: 26-31; Colossians 1: 15-23), and we find our deepest joy and meaning only in Him. Genesis 1 tells us that we were created in God’s image, but we no longer reflect God’s image as we were intended to because we chose to distrust God and have life on our own terms (Genesis 3).

However, despite our distrust and disobedience, God intends to bless us (Genesis 12:1-3, 50:20), and that’s why He came into the world to rescue us and bless us (2 Corinthians 5: 17, 21; Titus 3: 3-7).

All this is to say that despite rejecting Him, God seeks to save people and bless them, and He wants them to be mature in Jesus Christ and to have them look, act, think, live, and love more and more like Jesus did (Colossians 1: 27-28).

It’s important to pursue spiritual maturity because that is what allows us to fulfill our highest purpose and pursue our deepest joy. If God made us for Himself, then knowing why and how to relate to God and do life on His terms is a goal worth pursuing with everything we’ve got.

What is it all about?

There can be some misconceptions about what spiritual maturity is. Having many or powerful gifts is not a sign of spiritual maturity. The Christians in Corinth made that mistake, and Paul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians to address their mistaken notion (1 Corinthians 12, 13, 14).

You could say that spiritual maturity is about one thing – becoming more and more like Jesus. Jesus Christ is what human beings were created to be – people who love God, and love others; living lives of radical trust in God, generosity toward others, and pursuing the good in everything one does.

C.S. Lewis aptly made the same point when he wrote “We are bidden to ‘put on Christ’, to become like God. That is, whether we like it or not, God intends to give us what we need, not what we now think we want. Once more, we are embarrassed by the intolerable compliment, by too much love, not too little”. God loves us so much that He wants what’s best for us, and what is best for us is to ‘put on Christ’ and become more like Him.

Spiritual maturity is about:

  • Growing in trusting God and His motives, despite our circumstances.
  • Being discerning about yourself and your circumstances. A spiritually mature person understands how their own heart works, including how it can be deceitful (Psalm 19|: 12-14; Jeremiah 17: 9). A mature person can discern what is most important in a given situation.
  • Growing in your love and devotion toward God, and your love of others. That love is practical, generous, truthful, courageous, and not self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13).
  • Being a person of character and integrity. That means being the sort of person whose words and actions align, and who can be taken at their word. That is a rare gift to the people around you, and it takes great courage and consistency to be that sort of person.

Investing in your spiritual maturity.

Spiritual maturity doesn’t happen in a vacuum or without applying yourself to it. It requires a growing awareness of what it means to know and follow Jesus, to grow in knowing what to “put on” and what to “put off” as you pursue a life of obedience and the fullness of joy (Ephesians 4: 17-32). With help from a Christian life coach or a Christian counselor in Allen, Texas, you can begin to pursue spiritual maturity.

Your counselor or coach at Allen Christian Counseling  in Texas can help you as you set goals and create a plan to grow in specific areas of your life. They can also help you grow in understanding God’s promises and in using resources such as prayer, fellowship, and Scripture to become more mature and faithful in your walk with Jesus.

If you want to become mature and establish patterns in your life that will allow you to pursue spiritual maturity, reach out to a Christian counselor or life coach at Allen Christian Counseling in Texas who will walk with you on this life journey.

Photos:
“Bible Reading”, Courtesy of Rodolfo Quiros, Pexels.com, CC0 License; “Bible and Glasses”, Courtesy of John-Mark Smith, Unsplash.com, CC0 License; “Pen and Notebook”, Courtesy of John-Mark Smith, Pexels.com, CC0 License