How far are you from spiritual maturity? This past Tuesday, FoFers’ had the privilege of hearing Pastor Zaremba speak on perfection. For starters, perfection in Greek means the same thing as maturity. Spiritual maturity is marked by a rediscovery of you; but this time, however, it is yourself in Christ. Christ wants us to be mature in him. If we start to be interested in why God acts the way He does as opposed to being interested in the acts of God, we are on our way to spiritual maturity. Maturity, or perfection, is living like Christ because it’s simply the best way. It’s (spiritual maturity) visible! You get a sense of a new identity in Christ; voluntarily and spontaneously desiring to act like Christ. Hebrews 5:13-14 says “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.” Let’s take Peter for example. By the time he sat down to write 1st Peter, late in his life, a lot had changed. You can sense the change in the very words he chooses: words like humble and submit. It contains nothing of the brash, aggressive style evident in the Gospels. Gruff Peter has become a tender shepherd. To get the full impact of Peter’s transformation, you must read about him in the Gospels (especially Mark). The man who sliced off an ear in Jesus’ defense now advises submission to every government authority. Now he earnestly commends Christ suffering as an ideal. God’s Word in your life is like a seed sown into the ground. If it has been sown, it will grow. Similarly, if, while reading your Bible, you sow God’s Word into your minds and grasp its essence with faith, God himself, without any effort on your part, will make it come true in your life. So, I ask again…How far are you from perfection?
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