Praying for Spiritual Maturity
Maturity is increasingly hard to come by in our society. Whether it’s the foolish behaviour we observe at work or at school or even in our own families, or whether it’s the crazy stories we hear about in the news or video clips we watch online, it seems that people are acting more inappropriately, more immaturely than ever before. (Or then again, maybe it’s always been this way, and we’re just more aware of it now. Who really knows?)
As unfortunate as this contemporary trend may be, what’s more to the point for us as followers of Jesus is the subject of spiritual maturity. Simply put, God wants his kids to grow up. He receives us just as we are when we come in repentance and faith, and he welcomes us into his family as dearly-loved sons and daughters, but then he desires for us to mature in every way, like any good parent does.
The apostle Paul prays for spiritual maturity in his first letter to the Thessalonian believers. He longs to see these believers move forward in their relationship with God. No surprise, this ancient prayer has tremendous application for us today. As we continue our From the Heart series this Sunday, my hope is that each of us would be able to genuinely pray: God, I want to grow in spiritual maturity!