Ephesians

How Mature Are You?

Now comes the question: How mature are you? You may have been a Christian for decades—but are you mature? Have you grown beyond childish tantrums, attitudes of inconsistency, undependability, and spiritual gullibility? If you have, then you are maturing in Christ.

And there are other ways to measure our growth. We see one set forth in Ephesians 4:15. We measure our growth by observing whether or not we are “speaking the truth in love.” In the original Greek, the phrase “speaking the truth” is all one word, which we might render as “truthing.” Are you “truthing” in love? Are you living the truth in love? Are you living honestly? Is your life an open, unposturing attempt to be real, to be Christ-like? Do you live a life of sincere Christian love? Do you find that you increasingly exhibit Christ-like acceptance, patience, forgiveness, and love in the annoying and frustrating times of your life? If so, then you are “truthing” in love—and you are becoming more mature in Christ. That is a crucial measurement of spiritual maturity.

Paul mentions one final aspect of maturity in Ephesians 4:16, where he writes, “From him [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Paul is telling us that one of the factors that makes for growth is the acceptance of the ministry of other Christians in our lives. We are to join our lives together in the body of Christ. Immature Christians try to go it alone; mature Christians seek deep and active Christian fellowship. Maturity recognizes the need for a mutual ministry, one with another.

You may find this hard to take. There may be Christians in your church who rub you the wrong way. But understand this: God put you with those Christians because He knows you need them in your life. Some of them may be hard to love, but God knows that you need to learn how to love your brothers and sisters in the Lord. This is exactly the kind of exercise you need to become more mature and Christ-like. Everyone in the body of Christ is an individual, with a unique personality and unique gifts. They have the right to be different, and in their own way, they are growing toward Christ-like maturity, too. So do not reject God’s instruments. Allow Him to use them in your life, and allow Him to use you in theirs.

All too often, Christians get tired of putting up with this or that problem in a church, so at the first sign of trouble, they pull up stakes and move on to the church down the road. Certainly, there are times when God leads you to a new church—but a pattern of church-hopping is simply not consistent with the New Testament pattern. God put you where you are for a reason, so maturity demands that you stay there and learn to live with God’s people in that church. Without question, God will use that to produce growth and maturity in your life so that you might become well-rounded and complete in Jesus Christ. That is what He wants in our lives.

Notice, finally, that Paul again uses that linking phrase “in love” in Ephesians 4:16, “the whole body…grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (italics added). Christ-like love is the key to Christ-like maturity. As we live in love—love that is not just a feeling or a sentiment, but a relentless decision to do good to others even in annoying, frustrating, and downright horrible situations—we will experience something amazing. Day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, we will discover that the Spirit of God is producing a miracle in our lives. We will gradually find that we are shedding our childish ways. We are becoming fully-formed and mature, well-adjusted and stable, faithful and dependable. In short, we are seeing God’s supreme goal being accomplished in our lives.

We are growing more and more like Jesus.

Study Questions

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