SPIRITUAL MATURITY: GROWING UP IN LOVE

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17‭-‬19 NIV).

Love is by far the greatest indicator of Christian spirituality. That said, what is spirituality?

The term 'spirituality' is not used by only Christians. Every religion has its own form of spirituality and its own indicators of spirituality. For instance, there are people who hear the voices of ghosts. They speak with them and ask them for help. They are called necromancers. They also think that they are spiritual. So when it comes to spirituality, the Christian's knowledge and understanding of it is based on the revelations of the Bible. This is why we qualify it as Christian spirituality. 

Spirituality in the Christian sense

Spirituality refers to sensitivity to the Holy Spirit—his moves, his promptings, his inner drives and leadings.  

We may also simply define it as awakedness to the Holy Spirit. 

So then, Christian spirituality is rooted and grounded in the person of the Holy Spirit. Scripture says that "those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God" (Romans 8:14 NIV). 

So when we say that someone is growing spiritually, we mean that the person is increasing in their knowledge and understanding of the Holy Spirit, and this depth of understanding is producing in the person the glorious outcome of intimacy with the Holy Spirit indicated by the bearing of the fruit of the Spirit, predominantly, love.

A crop indicates its maturity by the fruit. It is the same with every living organism. As soon as they reproduce young ones of their own kind, you know that they have transited in their physical development. The spiritual Christian indicates maturity by their fruit. Jesus said that by their fruits you shall know the good trees, referring to those who are called, chosen and led by him.

This implies that display of spiritual gifts and anointing, display of enthusiasm and charisma, display of eloquence and excellency of speech are not the key indicators of spirituality, but rather, the bearing of fruit of the Spirit, predominantly love.

The spiritual Christian

The spiritual Christian is the Christian who has made the whole measure of Christ's love his or her ultimate goal in life, and is pressing to make it come true in real life. 

The goal of Christianity is to attain to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). So you have to keep praying for the enlightenment of your spiritual eyes to be able to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, so that by knowing, you will press to touch all the dimensions of his love. 

Loving others as Christ has loved you, is what defines you as a spiritual Christian, not the pitch of your prayer voice, or the rhythm of your tongues speaking, or the duration of your prayers, or the variety of tongues that you are able to utter. 

The mature Christian is the one who has been able to touch, handle and possess the whole measure of the fulness of Christ, predominantly his love, in which case they always manifest it in real life. Christian perfection simply means Christian maturity, and is about attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ, predominantly his love. 

The mark of true maturity

You may have faith that moves mountain, but if your love is weak, you are not completely spiritual. You may be filled with expectations of glory, and always be joyful and confident about your anticipations in Christ, but if you do not exhibit love, it amounts to nothing. You may even speak all varieties of glossolalia, but if you do not love others as Christ has loved you, you are still a babe in Christ. I love how The Passion Translation (TPT) puts Colossians 3:14, "For love is supreme and must flow through each of these virtues. Love becomes the mark of true maturity."

Love flows through all the gifts and fruit of the Spirit. Therefore, love becomes the mark of true maturity. 


#Truth Haven

Comments

  1. Sage WordOctober 24, 2022 at 3:55 AM

    Sage Broadcast empowers you to study, reason and question (srq) scripture in order to Find evidence of the truth. Remember, this is achievable only through the Holy Spirit.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 27, 2022 at 12:24 AM

    Thanks for these insightful reflections 🙏🏿

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousOctober 27, 2022 at 12:48 AM

      I'm glad that you enjoyed my reflection in maturing by love. Watch out for Moe enlightening messages. More for Christ!

      Delete

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