“How do I know if I am maturing?”

Hebrews 6:1 (TLB) - Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again…Let us go on instead to other things and become mature…

What is maturity? 

Introduction:  What maturity is NOT…Maturity is not age, appearance, and has nothing to do achievement or academics.

1.    Maturity begins with awareness.

Psalm 26:2-4 (NLT) - ² Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart. ³ For I am always aware of your unfailing love, and I have lived according to your truth. ⁴ I do not spend time with liars or go along with hypocrites.

2. Maturity is sensitive to others.

James 2:8 (NIV) - If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (CEV) - What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels? If I did not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² What if I could prophesy and understand all secrets and all knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing, unless I loved others. ³ What if I gave away all that I owned and let myself be burned alive? I would gain nothing, unless I loved others.

3. Maturity masters its own mouth.

James 3:2 (TEV) - All of us often make mistakes. But if a person never makes a mistake in what he says, he is perfect and is also able to control his whole being.

Ephesians 4:29 - Do not use any harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will build up and encourage those who hear you.

James 1:26 (TEV) - Do any of you think you are religious? If you do not control your tongue, your religion is worthless and you deceive yourself.

4. Maturity makes peace, not trouble.

James 4:1 (ICB) - Do you know where your fights and arguments come from? They come from the selfish desires that make war inside you.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3 - My friends, you are acting like the people of this world. Your behavior is so immature that I could not speak to you as spiritual people. You are like babies as far as your faith in Christ is concerned. ² So I had to treat you like babies and feed you milk. You could not take solid food, and you still cannot, ³ because you are not yet spiritually mature. You are jealous and argue with each other. This proves that you are not spiritually mature and that you are acting like the people of this world.

5. Maturity finds purpose in its problems.

Romans 8:28 (NLT2) - And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

James 1:22-25 (NLT2) - But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. ²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. ²⁵ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

6. Maturity has learned to praise God despite its problems.

James 1:2-3 (NIV) - Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT2) - Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Psalm 34:1 (NLT2) - I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.

7. Maturity is patient and prayerful.

James 5:7-11 (NLT2) - Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. ⁸ You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹ Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door! ¹⁰ For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy….¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

James 1:5 (NLT2) - If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you…

James 1:6 (NIV) - But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

James 1:12 (NLT2) - God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Not just another New Year’s Resolution

“How to avoid taking one step forward and two steps back in 2019”

Ephesians 4:1-2 (MSG) - In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere…

Intro: The key to forward growth is UNITY.

(The reason you can’t move forward is that there are multiple forces pulling against you.

Ephesians 4:2-3 (ESV)  - ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 

A.  I can’t practice unity if I don’t seek the oneness of God.

Ephesians 4:2-3 (ESV) -  ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

B.  I can’t experience oneness with God without addressing my own brokenness and divisiveness.

Ephesians 4:20-24 (MSG) - ^20-24 But (THAT OLD BROKEN LIFE) that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

2. The struggle forward is rewarded when we are completely humble.

Ephesians 4:2-3 (NIV) - ² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³ Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

A.  Humbly submit to others.

Ephesians 4:20-21 (NIV) - always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

B.  Experience the freedom in obedience.

Ephesians 4:30- 5:2 (NIV) - And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. 5 ¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Conclusion: I must take responsibility for my own spiritual growth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 (ESV) - ¹¹ And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵ Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Philippians 2:1-11 (NIV) - Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.