From Milk to Solid Food: Cultivating Spiritual Maturity

We want to microwave faith. But quality cooking takes time, and our life of faith is to be something delicious, prepared with love and attention to detail, with aromas pleasing to God who has the finest palate. And that doesn't come without practice, and sufficient practice doesn't come without support. So we form support systems for that kind of practice. It's part of what we want community groups for. We want to aim at maturity, which is a worthy and glorious goal. [00:48:33] (37 seconds)  #FaithTakesTime

And as we are filled with his love, he will reorder our loves so that we would love most what is most worthy and love everything else accordingly, so that the whole flow of our souls and the will flow and course toward God and lifeward in a whole new direction. This is what Christ beckons you to. Trust him and open the floodgates so that his living water will rush in and change the course of your heart forever. [01:16:19] (36 seconds)  #OpenTheFloodgates

So we feed and feast on Jesus with bellies of faith, believing in him. But if to believe in him, you've got to know what you're believing. Right? Just like to enjoy the feast that someone has set in front of you, you've got to start taking bites. And that's what we do each day for our soul's daily bread. We take bites of belief. We enjoy the flavor of grace, and we live on the energy that it gives us. And for those who are new, it's milky grace. For those whose roots are established and have grown a bit, it's it's and this it's to mix metaphors, right, it's solid food that we chew a bit more. [01:14:08] (43 seconds)  #FeastOnJesus

So important that it's a launching off point for everything else, but a launching point does no good if it doesn't launch. So we work out our faith into the corners of our life. Out of our our reverent fear and hope and the resurrection and the eternal judgment to take another set of things that he lists in that list in the next chapter, that is key to our joy and liberation and perseverance in this life. And we will not be able to grow if we're missing it. But grow, we must. [01:10:19] (31 seconds)  #FaithInAction

So their immaturity is rooted in neglecting such a great salvation, not treating what is most important like it is most important. And the remedy, he says, is we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift from it. Immaturity will lead to drifting. This is an important lesson we must be reminded of. There is no standing still. Not in this world. There is a current in which we will drift if we are not moving toward the prize, as Paul puts it. [00:56:34] (35 seconds)  #PayCloserAttention

We've heard a lot about the worsening trust crisis. People are losing trust in in the because of the proliferation of falsehood in the public square. But there is something deeper than a trust crisis. There's this corresponding credulity crisis. The only reason falsehoods gain so much traction in the public square is because people are so prone to believe lies. They are credulous. Echo chambers have received a lot of presses contributing to that trust crisis, but echo chambers don't actually make people less trusting. They make them more trusting in a more isolated pool of sources. [00:45:40] (34 seconds)  #CredulityCrisis

Constant practice is what develops discernment and allows someone to distinguish between from good and evil. Now this is obviously obviously isn't talking about the kind of good and evil that requires no discernment. You know? Like, don't rob a bank or don't murder your spouse. That doesn't require discernment. But, of course, we we live in a in a a complex world where most situations are not as clear cut. We all agree murdering children is wrong, but what about if they're still in the womb, to take one modern example? [00:43:14] (35 seconds)  #PracticeDiscernment

This is something we must throw ourselves upon the the mercy and power of God for. We are at his mercy, but he is rich in mercy. We must have a sense of desperation that leads to dependence on Christ to work in us. That is our salvation. As we saw in in the last chapter last week, we draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. He will change us and transform us and renew us, and his grace is sufficient for us. [01:08:05] (41 seconds)  #DrawNearForMercy