WEEK 37
TOPIC: SPIRITUAL MATURITY (Part 3)
TEXT: Luke 1:80, Heb. 6:1-3, Eph. 4:11-15
What It Is Not: Contd.
5. It Is Not About Being Morally Upright: Spiritual maturity is not about moral uprightness. Moral uprightness is a must for every child of God, but it is also embedded in nearly every other religion. Therefore, if moral uprightness is all that spiritual maturity is, then, what is the difference between Christianity and other religions? Look, life in Christ is not essentially about doing, but about being. You can be morally upright and yet not spiritual matured in the things of God. That you honor your elders, which is morally excellent, doesn’t mean you know how to operate your faith against Satanic attack on your health. In Acts 10:1-4, Cornelius was morally upright so much so that God acknowledged it in heaven. But was he born again? No! The first thing God did for him was to get him into salvation otherwise he would still have ended up in hell. Christianity is not about character reform, but about a change in nature. It is not a psychological transformation, but a spiritual rebirth entirely. Therefore, don’t think that a man is a spiritually matured man just because he is morally upright; they are not the same.
6. It Is Not The Same As Just Operating Under The Anointing: The anointing is God’s divine power on a man, causing him to operate in a level higher than the ordinary. And how we need this more than ever before. However, a man can carry an anointing for a calling, yet as a person, he is not spiritually grown. Is this possible? Yes. The anointing on your calling is mainly to minister to others, not you. You have to grow and develop your own faith and spirit man in the word for yourself or else you can be a victim of the same thing the anointing in your calling is solving for others. Many anointed men in the past have proved this and history is replete with it. You may be anointed, but what is your personal faith level, your belief system, your disposition towards issues in life? Are they in line with the word or otherwise? These are some indicators of whether you as a person is truly spiritually matured in God inspite of the anointing upon your life. The way it works is this: the more you grow spiritually, the more you are able to flow in the anointing better. But just because you operate in the anointing doesn’t mean you are spiritually matured as a person.
7. It Is Not The Same As Just Having A Great Knowledge Of The Bible: This is where many charismatics have issues. As a Christian, your knowledge of the Bible is non-negotiable if you are serious about God However, just knowing the Bible for the sake of it doesn’t make you a spiritually grown man. Infact your bible knowledge can even make spiritual growth difficult for you if your heart is not right with God. There is a vast difference between having bible knowledge and having an experiential knowledge of the word. The bible says knowledge puffs up (1 Cor. 8:1), the knowledge referred to here is mere head knowledge of the bible that has not in any way impacted on the heart. Thank God for quoting the bible, but have you truly encountered the bible you are quoting in your heart? In the temptation of Jesus, did you notice at a time, Satan joined Him in quoting the Scriptures too? (Luke 4:1-10). That means Satan can quote scriptures too, probably more than you. So stop celebrating bible quoting, let the bible come alive in your heart and alter your personality for good. You know one reason why to just have a great knowledge of the bible is not to be mistaken for true spiritual growth, it is because no matter how wrong you may be on any issue, you can always find a scripture to quote (of course out of context and twisted) to support yourself. Many believers have trained themselves to become crooked over time because of this and if they continue on that trajectory long enough, they will loose God’s light in their spirit. So quoting the bible and infact being vast in scriptural knowledge is not to be misconstructed for spiritual maturity. The bible is not given to us just to have knowledge, but to change us into Christ like more in our earth walk. The knowledge of the bible is not an end in itself, but a means to an end, the end being a spiritual transformation that leads to spiritual maturity.
Points to note
1. Moral soundness is not the same as spiritual maturity.
2. A man can have an anointing on him and yet be a spiritual baby in personal development.
3. A good knowledge of the bible with a wrong heart makes you a crooked person and a manipulator.
4. Quoting scriptures without a true revelation of them in your heart doesn’t impress Satan because he knows and quotes bible too.
Prayers/Declaration
In the name of Jesus, I refuse to be deluded in life. As I walk in life, the word of God is working in me, transforming me from inside out. I declare that my spiritual growth will not be stunted in Jesus’ Name.
Questions for meditation
1. Just carrying an anointing is not enough in our walk with God. Justify this statement?
2. Is moral uprightness all there is to spiritual maturity?
3. What is the difference between just having a knowledge of the bible and having a walk in the word?