by Angela May
Watching my grandbaby, and my friend’s grandbabies grow, I notice that it is not long before solids are introduced into their diet. While a one-year-old is not weaned from milk to steak and veggies overnight, the healthy goal is always to wean him from milk onto a wide variety of foods from the five food groups. Unfortunately, not all children do grow up to eat a varied and healthy diet. According to The World Health Organisation, fourty-five percent of deaths for children under 5 years of age, are due to undernutrition. Unhealthy eating and poor family eating habits – along with lack of physical activity, also lead to childhood obesity. We would all agree that a healthy diet is therefore very important for a person’s development, just as it is for life and longevity.
Our spiritual diet should be the same. We are not meant to stay on spiritual milk for all of our life. If we are to grow up spiritually - into Christ, we must progress to solids. Paul was tough on the Corinthian believers, who were still worldly, still on milk, and not yet ready for spiritual meat (1 Cor 3:1-2). As young believers in the faith, it was right to be on spiritual milk, but it was not acceptable to stay in this childish state. They thought they were spiritual because they were gifted, but they had actually not grown up at all. The Corinthian believers, according to Paul, should have outgrown that state along time ago!
The Hebrew writer was just as tough on believers. These believers were accused of being stuck in immaturity by choosing to not understand the weightier matters of the faith. The flow on effect was a shortage of teachers, or far worse, immature teachers. If believers do not know God’s word, how can they know God’s mind on important ‘doctrinal, ethical and spiritual issues?’ (The Bible Speaks Today Commentary-Hebrews.)
The writer is chiding them for their loss of appetite for Christian truth and sound doctrine (Hebrews 5: 11-14). He accused them of choosing milk, instead of the meat of studying the Scriptures. Because of this, they had become ineffectual and their development was arrested.
Neither writer is suggesting that a believer can make him or herself mature. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to grow us to be more like Christ. But the believer must be yielded to the process. If we no longer try to understand, then we will not grow to maturity. Are you resisting or yielding to the growth work of the Holy Spirit?
Have you ever considered what your spiritual diet consists of? Just as a maturing body cannot grow on milk alone, we cannot possibly hope to mature spiritually on a brief devotion and a quick prayer. It might be okay on occasions, but when it is our only diet, we cannot hope to stay healthy and grow. Spiritually immature believers are at risk. At risk of being tossed about by the waves of teachings, and blown here and there by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming (Ephesians 4:14).
Growing up does not happen overnight. It is a process. Our spiritual growth is not for our benefit alone, it is also for the benefit of the church - Christ’s body. We are called to be fully mature adults, so that we may know the truth and be able to tell it in love (Ephesians 4). Don’t be among those arrested in their spiritual development. Instead, develop a healthy appetite for the study of Scriptures, and yield to the work of the Holy Spirit; and to the fullness that God is calling all of us into.
Angela loves to apply the Word of God to everyday life. She identifies with the challenge women face today as they strive to balance the demands of family, work, and ministry. She is passionate about women's emotional and spiritual health and how they can find that in Jesus. Angela is a registered teacher, is Bible College trained, and an experienced speaker and presenter. She also blogs. You can follow her on social media or at www.angelamay.online
If you’d like to receive the monthly QBW Prayer Network email, click here.
Click here to join the Qld Baptist Women in Leadership Facebook Page. Don’t forget to answer the questions to get in the door.
Click here to follow our QBW/Anew Conference Facebook Page.
Click here to follow us on Instagram.
Don’t forget to follow our Blog!
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel