Growing Up In Christ
It is so fantastic to see a new Christian. There is an excitement and a freshness to his or her life that is contagious. However, there is a danger lurking, too. It is the danger of failing to grow up as a Christian. I Corinthians 3:1 describes the Corinthian believers as "babes in Christ." That does not mean that they were brand new Christians. It means that they had failed to grow, and this failure was causing them many problems. It is imperative that a new Christian start growing and becoming mature as soon as he or she is saved. This prevents spiritual immaturity problems, such as the ones the Corinthians experienced.
The writer to the Hebrews makes this plain in chapter 6 and verse 1. The believers needed to go on to maturity. They did not need to get bogged down in simple doctrinal issues, but they needed to grow up in Christ to be spiritually mature and strong enough to win the battles against Satan and his forces. If there is no growth, Satan will make their lives pretty miserable, even though they should be victorious.
I believe all new Christians want to grow, and they desire the pure milk of the Word of God. It is up to us as older Christians to show them what is important and to encourage them on their way to maturity. We can't force them to grow up, but we can be there to give our own testimonies of God's grace and power. Let's make sure that we do our part to see the new believers around us grow up in the Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Joshua 7-9 and Luke 1:21-38.
The writer to the Hebrews makes this plain in chapter 6 and verse 1. The believers needed to go on to maturity. They did not need to get bogged down in simple doctrinal issues, but they needed to grow up in Christ to be spiritually mature and strong enough to win the battles against Satan and his forces. If there is no growth, Satan will make their lives pretty miserable, even though they should be victorious.
I believe all new Christians want to grow, and they desire the pure milk of the Word of God. It is up to us as older Christians to show them what is important and to encourage them on their way to maturity. We can't force them to grow up, but we can be there to give our own testimonies of God's grace and power. Let's make sure that we do our part to see the new believers around us grow up in the Lord.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Joshua 7-9 and Luke 1:21-38.