FROM CHILD TO MAN
In a human’s life there exists different growth and development stages suchas, childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age. Some people develop faster than others, but the truth is that we must long not to stay in the initial stage, but instead progress toward our purpose.
The same thing happens in our life with Christ. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, werepent,we ask for the forgiveness of our sins, and we go from creation to becoming sons and daughters of God.
During thisstage we might be called spiritual children, the kind of children that apostle Paul described in the previous verse. In this stage God’s Word is so new to us that we need help from the members of our congregation to understand it and get spiritually fed just like an infant.
This is also one of the most dangerousstages, because new believers can more easily go back to alcohol, drugs, or other vices when they face problems. Just as every child, they are moved by their emotions and circumstances and they are easily angered to the point that they can get offended by something they heard at church and leave God.
However, apostle Paul said, “… when I became a man, I put away childish things”. Part of our growth process is to progress and become spiritual adults. We cannot afford to be believers who have been in the Church for years, yet we continue to be in stage one.
If you are still a spiritual child, I encourage you to continue to grow and to strengthen your faith so that the enemy doesn’t cause you to fall, but your testimony becomes a light that shines upon the lives of other believers.
Human beings,Christians and non-Christians will go through financial, family, or vocational problems, and if we are not strong in our faith these problems will destroy us. However, if we are strong and spiritually mature, these problems will edify us.
Think about it:
What stage do you believe you are at in your spiritual development?
What can you do today to go to the next level in your spiritual growth?
