Growth and maturity is one of the fundamental processes of life for any living organism. It is therefore God’s expectation that all of His precious children grow and mature.
“Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” (1 Peter 2:1-3 KJV)
It is important for us to mature and to grow. However many Christians don’t grow and mature, and this a cause for worry.
In this study, we shall examine certain reasons why some Christians don’t grow and mature as they should.
All Malice:
Malice is a desire to inflict injury, harm, or suffering on another, either because of a hostile impulse or out of deep-seated meanness. In legal terms, it is an evil intent on the part of a person who commits a wrongful act which is injurious to others. Most believers don’t grow and mature because of this deep seated intent and evil desire.
All Guile:
Guile is astuteness often marked by a certain sense of cunning or artful deception. Guile is deceptiveness, deceit, fraud, duplicity, dishonesty. Many Christians do not mature because of guile; this is a clever but sometimes dishonest behaviour that you use to deceive someone. This is one of the greatest problems among people of faith. We are matured concerning evil and babes when it comes to spiritual things. Please, you give up these smart deceptiveness and you will geniunely grow and mature.
Hypocrisy:
Hypocrisy is the contrivance of a false appearance of virtue or goodness, while concealing real character or inclinations, especially with respect to religious and moral beliefs; hence in a general sense, hypocrisy may involve dissimulation, pretense, or a sham.
Indeed, may the Lord help us to give up false pretences. Don’t pretend to be praying when you are not praying. Don’t pretend to be singing when you are not singing, don’t pretend to be studying the Bible when you are not, don’t pretend to hate sin when you don’t. Many of us are not growing because we are pretending too much. Our convictions are fake.
Many of us in church don’t believe in eternal things; we are carnal, we think like the world. We don’t hate the world; we rather even envy the world. This is why today many girls prostitute themselves without remorse.
Envying:
Envying is a feeling of unhappiness over the good fortune of someone and the desire for the same good fortune. Many people instead of working on their own gift and trusting God for their own blessings and breakthroughs, spend their precious lives envying what other have. Listen! Any blessing you castigate will not come to you.
Evil speaking:
Unpleasant or unkind remarks made about a person who is not present. It is not right to speak evil of others. It is not. I get surprised at how many people will spend hours unending discussing others and slandering them. Sometimes such people even cook up stories just to slander others.
Lack of desire for sincere milk:
Many new born babes dislike the truth. They prefer tales and fables instead of truth. Until we have a deep seated desire for the truth, we cannot win. The believer grows and grows by milk. Without a sincere desire for sincere milk we will not go very far. You need to use milk if you would indeed grow.
I pray that you would boldly give up these negative tendencies of being malicious, full of guile and mischief, hypocrisies, envying, evil speakings, and lack of desire for sincere milk. May you arise and live with greater values than the values of the world! May you become a Christian with a difference!
As I close this message remember this; “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:7-9 KJV)
Stay blessed!
Today’s Prayer
Almighty God,
I sincerely want to mature in spiritual things. I desire Your grace. Build a hunger in me for deeper spiritual virtues. Help me to give up these negative tendencies and to move on to more spiritual things.
Amen!
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