Time to Grow Up
Scripture
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
—Hebrews 5:11–14 (NIV)
The writer of Hebrews has a word for believers who have stalled in their growth. “By this time, you ought to be teachers,” he says. They had followed Jesus long enough that they should have been feeding others, yet they were still living on spiritual milk. The problem wasn’t that the teaching had grown shallow; it was that the people had grown dull in hearing.
It’s not that milk is bad. Every believer starts there. But there comes a time when you must move beyond being spoon-fed and begin feeding yourself. Maturity doesn’t happen by accident. Growth comes “by constant use,” by applying God’s Word until it becomes part of who you are.
The goal isn’t to jump from milk to meat overnight. The goal is to take in what God gives and put it into practice. As you do, you grow stronger, wiser, and more discerning.
“The call of Christ to His disciples is a call to maturity. It is a call to growing up. It is a call to becoming a co-laborer with God.”
— Dallas Willard¹
Spiritual maturity isn’t simply about how much you know; it’s about becoming someone who can join God in His work and help others grow. So here’s the question: Are you still drinking milk, or are you growing into maturity? Every day is another chance to take what you’ve received and put it into practice, until your life becomes nourishment for someone else too. Start where you are, and ask God to bring people into your life that you can help grow.
Reflection
- What does it look like for you to take greater ownership of your spiritual growth?
- In what ways might you be “hearing” the Word but not yet applying it?
- How can you help feed and encourage others in their walk with Jesus this week?
Prayer
Ask God to help you grow beyond spiritual infancy and into maturity. Pray for a heart that eagerly receives and obeys His Word. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you discernment and to use your growth to strengthen and bless others.
Footnote
¹ Dallas Willard, “The Disciple, the Disciplines and the Triumphant Life,” teaching series, Rolling Hills Covenant Church, 1981.