We are physically born as babies. We are born again as spiritual babies. In both arenas, we have to grow.

It would be very obvious that something is not as it should be if we saw a grown person sustaining himself through formula in a baby bottle. It is easy for us to get stuck in spiritual childhood or babyhood in our relationship with God. We have to grow.

Coming to belief in God washes away sin and redirects us away from hell and toward heaven. It deals with our sin nature and delivers us into fellowship with God in the Circle of Love. Our spiritual re-birthday is a place on a timeline we can point to and say: “I heard Christ knock on the door, and I opened it up. I am born again, saved by the blood of the Lamb.” Yet we are still spiritual babies who need to mature, and this is a progressive work of God and man that moves us further from sin and more like Christ. Growing to maturity in Christ is NOT a specific-date-on-the-calendar conversion experience, but an ongoing journey.

The church is “to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. Then we will no longer be immature like children.” Ephesians 4:12-14, NLT

We wait, listen, and rely on the Holy Spirit to unveil what we need to know. As we grow to trust in his wisdom and timing, we learn to put aside our selfish desires and ask God to show us what he wants for is in His purpose and in this time.