well....to me....a spiritually mature christian aint a baby christian....who has to be fed...changed..an looked after with care....Job in the bible was mature enought to realise God's love when he underwent trials....he never at one point talked ill of God.....mature christians are able to withstand storms....they know there place....an are at peace...u know...baby christians tend to hav tantrums....e.g....they want instant miracles....they want to have there own way...an such like things...when one gets to mature...they tend to have God use them to His Glory....
I can think of a couple specific passages where the Bible talks about baby Christians vs. mature Christians.
1 Corinthians 3
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Hebrews 5
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
My idea of Spiritual Maturity is based on those passages, characteristics of people that I feel are spiritually mature, and personal experiences with both immature and mature Christians.
Here are just a few things that do not necessarily have anything to do with maturity: length of time since salvation, regular church attendance, positions of authority within a church, "book knowledge" of the Bible. While these may be indicators of a person's maturity, there are plenty of Christians who got saved at the age of 3, attend church every Sunday, teach Sunday School, can quote oodles of Bible verses, and yet who are still needing to be fed spiritual milk rather than meat.
Now, on to some of the things I think ARE signs of spiritual maturity.
1) A spiritually mature person will not only know that the Bible talks about a subject, they will also search for that passage until they find it, they will research that passage and topic, and they will come to a solid, Biblical conclusion about that subject.
2) Someone who is spiritually mature will believe that God and His Word (the Bible) are more important authorities on things than the latest, greatest, most famous, preachers/evangelists/authors/speakers. A mature Christian will certainly have favorite people, but an immature Christian will put more emphasis on that person than on God.
3) A mark of spiritual maturity is the ability to discern what is good and what is bad. That doesn't mean that the person can discern without study, but that a person is capable of researching something, observing something, praying about it, seeking a Biblical perspective on it, and then making a valid call as to whether or not something is good or evil.
4) Personal growth in God is another sign of spiritual maturity. Even a Christian who attends church every time the doors are open needs to spend time with God regularly. If he does not, he may not see the Spirit's leading. Someone who is growing in God will desire deeper study. He will feel unsatisfied with the teaching that is shallow or specifically intended for new Christians. That is NOT to say that he might not need to be reminded of some of the basics from time to time, but his diet will be more substantial. He will also never be satisfied with where he is currently at in his walk with God.
5) Someone who desires to be spiritually mature will seek out a mature mentor and spend time with that person. He will learn from that person, he will double check what that person says with the Bible, and he will hold himself accountable to that person.
I know those 5 things sound like I'm describing the "perfect" Christian rather than a mature Christian. That is not my intent. All of those areas are important, though, and someone working toward spiritual maturity needs to be growing in all of them.
When it comes to seeing whether or not a guy is spiritually mature enough to consider as a marriage partner, I look at how far he's come in those areas, and how well he would be able to lead a family in God's will...even if he might not be quite as mature as I would like, as long as there is progress, I would consider him to be potential marriage material. I look FAR more at that than at how long he's been a Christian, how many Scripture memorization awards or perfect attendance awards he's received, or how involved he is with leadership roles in his church. He need not be perfect in those areas...I'm certainly not! But there should at least be evidence that he takes achieving spiritual maturity seriously.
wow those are really good insights, what do you think of this:
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians)
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in himc to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
12I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.
14I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. (1 John)
lol, I see you all also refer to men when you speak of spiritual maturity, and looking for a man. I feel like if a woman can already surrender to God, she can already submit, I feel like that is what I am looking for as far as spiritual maturity. I mean wouldn't ya'll consider a man who could already love like a Christ has loved us, but the only way you would know was to be around them long enough to see that, wouldn't it?
Rabbit, you said "I mean wouldn't ya'll consider a man who could already love like a Christ has loved us, but the only way you would know was to be around them long enough to see that, wouldn't it?"
Yes, of course I'd consider a man who could already love like Christ has loved us. And yes, the only way to know that would be to spend enough time around that person. I personally think that characteristic would be a natural result of maturing spiritually, and would be one way that I would be able to tell if there was any progress towards maturity. Also, there is no magic test to see if someone is growing spiritually; to find that out, one must spend time with the person, talk to the person, observe that person in a variety of situations, and pray for God to give discernment.
I know I referred to "he" a lot in my description of spiritual maturity. For the most part, I was using the masculine pronoun as a gender-neutral one to refer to any person, male or female. And I included that paragraph about what I was looking for (spiritual maturity-wise) in a man because, after all, this IS a dating site!
