{"id":23199,"date":"2023-09-04T16:20:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T16:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=23199"},"modified":"2023-09-04T16:28:42","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T16:28:42","slug":"growing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/?p=23199","title":{"rendered":"Growing Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

Views: 1<\/p>

[Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles\u20131<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>While on this earth, no person will ever attain a maturity beyond which he needs no further growth. Maturity among humankind is, therefore, always a relative thing. The process of maturing directly applies to the Christian life. It is common to call one who has just been \u201cborn of water and the Spirit\u201d (John 3:5) a \u201cbabe in Christ.\u201d However, it is possible for some to remain \u201cbabes in Christ\u201d long after their new birth, as Paul described some in the Corinthian church (1 Cor. 3:1). If one matures as God wills, upon arising from the spiritual burial in baptism, one begins a process that will cause one to \u201cbe no longer children\u2026but\u2026grow up in all things unto\u2026Christ\u201d (Eph. 4:14\u201315). Certain elements figure very prominently in the maturing process, and we will do well to be conscious of them.<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Learning God\u2019s Word<\/strong>. Spiritual immaturity is a symptom of a failure to study and learn the Word (Heb. 5:12\u201313). It is not possible to grow up spiritually without continual study and learning of the Word of God, the food for our souls. Brother or sister, when you quit studying, you quit growing in spiritual matters.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Making choices<\/strong>. One\u2019s spiritual birth depended upon choosing Christ over Satan, Truth over error, and the church over the world. That very step was a signal of a level of spiritual maturing that only a \u201cfew\u201d ever \u201cfind\u201d (Mat 7:14). However, one\u2019s continued spiritual growth depends upon continuing to make the right choices. Each day, we face many cross-roads, obstacles, and problems that require a choice and discernment. We should never invite difficulties, but when they come and we \u201cdiscern good and evil\u201d (Heb. 5:14) and choose \u201cgood,\u201d we grow spiritually.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Giving self to others.<\/strong> The perfectly mature Christ \u201cemptied himself, taking the form of a servant\u201d (Phi. 2:7). Those who ever remain in their own little shell, thinking only of and pitying themselves have sentenced themselves to spiritual immaturity. Physical babies think of themselves. When one becomes mired in self-pity, there is no better no better tonic than to visit someone and get one\u2019s mind on someone else\u2019s problems and needs. Serving others produces spiritual growth.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Saying, \u201cI will try.\u201d<\/strong> Corn quits growing and dies when it gets all dried up. So do people. A person who turns away from opportunity with an ever ready, \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d is never going to grow much. Even when you think you can\u2019t do the job, if you try you will grow, regardless of how well you do. If you\u2019ve never done it before, give it a try if you want to grow. There must be in us that response to challenges that says, \u201cYes,\u201d or at least, \u201cI will try,\u201d if we are to grow.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The alternative to spiritual growth is spiritual rot.<\/span><\/p>\n

    [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for, and it was published in the August 11, 1977, edition of the Granbury Gospel, <\/em>weekly bulletin of the Granbury Church of Christ, Granbury, Texas, of which I was editor.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Attribution:<\/strong> From thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner, curator, and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Views: 1[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles\u20131 page.] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 While on this earth, no person will ever attain a maturity beyond which he needs no further growth. Maturity among humankind is, therefore, always a relative thing. The process of…<\/p>\n

    Continue Reading… Growing Up<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1181,594,1182,216],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-choices","category-learning","category-maturity","category-serving","wpcat-1181-id","wpcat-594-id","wpcat-1182-id","wpcat-216-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23199"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23200,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23199\/revisions\/23200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thescripturecache.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}