Don’t Stay Spiritually Immature

All of us are not as spiritually mature as we desire to be, but that doesn’t mean we have to stay that way. You must decide if you will stay stuck or get intentional about the next ways you need to grow.

Would you label yourself as maturing? Do you see any progress? Even if it is minimal, you want to notice how God is shaping you incrementally. You may not be where you want to be but thank God you are not where you were.

If you ignore the weak areas in your life, they will eventually affect your strengths negatively. Any immature tendencies in your life that remain unaddressed will limit your ability to be all God has called you to be. You might be 70% mature, but the struggling 30% is making your life so incredibly challenging. 

Believers too often gloss over their inconsistencies as if they are someone else’s fault. “I’m just not wired like that” is an apparent jab toward God for what you believe to be his lackluster design. “I wasn’t as privileged as others” is blaming others’ failures to mask personal frailties. You will never see any progress until you begin to assume some of the responsibility.  

Refusing to address your areas of immaturity welcomes additional mishaps. God isn’t through with you yet (Phil, 1:6), so why would you give up? The process of development is partnering together with your Heavenly Father to walk in the good works which he has prepared for you (Eph. 2:10).

As you begin to process where you need development most, your mind may gravitate toward numerous areas. While all of us have weak areas, which ones are the most critical for you to develop during this season of your life? You will begin to narrow down your scope by thinking through your specific gifts and strategic contexts. 

1. How am I uniquely gifted?
2. Where am I strategically placed?

God has given you particular gifts to use in specific places. No two people have the same design. No two people are in an identical context. When I neglect how God has prepared me and where God has positioned me, I will overlook his good and generous desires for my life.

No one else in the world is my wife’s husband. No other man can be my children’s dad. My church may decide to get another pastor tomorrow, but they at least have me today. In those contexts, no one else is supposed to do what God has called me to do. If I am the only one he has targeted for those tasks, have I ever considered how well I am doing? 

Every believer has been prepared in specific ways and placed in specific contexts.

God has made you at this time in a certain way for a particular purpose. He isn’t calling on anyone else to fulfill your unique assignment. God can work without us, but he is desirous to work with us. When God provides you with intentional abilities and specific opportunities, you can rest assured that he has exceptional plans and thrilling processes to see you through.

1. Preparation – Every believer has been gifted in specific ways requiring distinctive efforts for development. God has given spiritual gifts to every single believer (1 Pet. 4:10) so that we can use them for the glory of God and the good of others. Just because you have a gift doesn’t mean that you know how to use it though. The person who struggles with technology can be given the most advanced gadget and yet remain unable to do the simplest of tasks. It isn’t a problem with the gift but the recipient. Regarding our spiritual gifts, God has given us powerful abilities, but refusing to crack open the instruction manual can severely limit our use of them.
2. Placement – Every believer has been placed in specific contexts warranting unique opportunities for development. As you progress through life, you find yourself in new situations requiring new skills. If you have been hired as a defensive coordinator for a football team, you don’t need to study defensive formations used on the basketball court. You work according to your responsibilities and opportunities. While you may have never considered how to serve a spouse selflessly every day of your life, you might want to start the training around the time you get one. When you begin your career and increase your wealth, you might need to learn how to steward what you have been given to pay the bills, save for the future, and give to Kingdom work. If you have an opportunity to serve in your church, don’t just make clumsy efforts but learn how to serve to the best of your ability. Where you have been placed should dictate how you should train.

God has prepared you and placed you. Your life’s context is not an accident. While you are hopefully making progress, your opportunities are too pivotal to allow mediocre advancements. Will you partner with God for your practical development?